Barrett (Colin Friels) is a stand-over man whose days of standing-over are over. He wants to retire, to take up fishing, to stop disposing of bodies in the ocean. Unfortunately for Barrett, no-one wants him to quit, and when he insists, they begin to get angry. His corrupt police contacts want to ensure his loyalty with a bullet. Rival gangsters want to ensure his death with one. And his employers are only willing to let him go if he takes out the pesky university student who's been writing her thesis on their dirty laundry. That Barrett has befriended the student in question, Billie (Bojana Novakovic), merely complicates an already complicated situation.

Closer to Chinatown or The Long Goodbye than it is to Two Hands or Gettin' Square, Morgan O'Neill's Solo relies less on outmoded cultural stereotypes—ocker crims who wear thongs and say 'fark'—than it does on cinematic archetypes and conventions, most notably those of 'sunshine noir'. Sydney's suburbs oppress with their faded, sun-bleached colours, the world all the darker for being so bright. Friels' Barrett is played with Bogartian weariness.

The ending attempts to twist with the best of them, but merely illustrates this country's increasing obsession with the sting in the tail. In a film whose best bits play it straight, the ending can only be disappointing. But despite this—and a few unnecessary stylistic excesses—Solo is a surprisingly strong debut, especially for one that emerged from the bowels of a high-concept series like Project Greenlight Australia.

Arts in the City, April 2007