Ned Kelly is based on the story of the Australian Outlaw of the same name. Essentially, he's the Australian Robin Hood, with guns instead of arrows. The movie roughly follows a fiction book written almost entirely in letters by Kelly for his young...
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Ned Kelly is based on the story of the Australian Outlaw of the same name. Essentially, he's the Australian Robin Hood, with guns instead of arrows. The movie roughly follows a fiction book written almost entirely in letters by Kelly for his young daughter, who never knew him (the daughter was not a character in either the book or the movie).

Heath Ledger delivers a surprisingly wonderful performance in this very serious piece, and has a running voice-over of Kelly's thoughts that, while it might sound like it would be annoying, offers insights into his character that both fit with the scenes and add to the plot. This movie is a rare opportunity to see Orlando Bloom as something other than the mysterious, silent type. He plays Jo Byme, Kelly's best friend and right-hand-man. As it turns out, Jo is quite the lady's man and Bloom carries the rather light-hearted role very well.

As usual, Rush plays a perfect part as the awful Superintendent and Watts does the best she can with a limited, though crucial role. I've not heard of anyone else on the cast, though they fill their roles well, particularly Laurece Kinlan (Dan Kelly).

Artfully done, with some fabulous music, the movie is at worst a good story and a fairly accurate rendering of an unfortunately neglected legend.