Jack Irish

How lucky we are to have Guy Pearce as Jack Irish back on our screens.

As the crumpled one-time lawyer turned jack-of-all-trades operating between the force and the crims, he’s the guy to have on side when things are going wrong. He never says too much, indeed, he hovers at arms-length using his nous and his contacts to solve that which bubbles beneath the surface.

In the third ABC telemovie, Dead Point, Irish is asked by Justice Loder (Barry Humphries) to retrieve a red, leather-bound book which harbors some deep, personal secrets. Cleverly merging the personal with the professional, the story by author Peter Temple sees Justice Loder as the father of Isabel, Irish’s wife who died in the first telemovie, Bad Debts.

“Every time I see you, I feel sad,” says Loder.

Following the trail of the book will lead him down all manner of dark metaphorical alleys, into decadent mistress clubs and onto the brute force of the wharves. Cue the drugs, organised crime and dead bodies.

Meanwhile his pals Harry Strang (Roy Billing) and Cam Delroy (Aaron Pedersen) are distracted by the circumstances of Cynthia aka ‘The Commissioner’ (Deborah Mailman) who leads a double life as a mother run-ragged and an astute bookmaker drawing piles of cash at the racetrack.

Journalist Linda Hillier (Marta Dusseldorp) now works as a radio talkshow host, still burning a candle for our Jack.

Ducking in and out of overlapping storylines with our hero is sometimes complex. Along the way there are plenty of familiar faces: Vince Colosimo, Kat Stewart, Shane Jacobson, John Jarratt, Damien Richardson, Damien Garvey.

Rather wonderfully we are also privvy to the Prince of Prussia barflys, gloriously portrayed by Ronald Falk, John Flaus and Terry Norris. These three bring great comedic value with a minimum of dialogue.

Director Jeffrey Walker commands an immaculate-looking production. Melbourne glimmers on the screen, with all the sheen of a big screen feature. This franchise loves to make a backdrop of the character, with Fitzroy as the lead. Special mention to Director of Photography Martin McGrath.

Pearce is assured and nuanced as Jack Irish, a modern day gumshoe detective. We rarely see Barry Humphries acting on the screen in a ‘straight’ role. More’s the pity. He is enigmatic and relaxed.

As knockabout as the telemovie is, it still has its dark side. And as a thriller, it needs to. There are action scenes to rise above the character work, in between the cracks. One scene was so brutal I had to look through my fingers. However while A-list actors add cachet I’m also tiring of seeing familiar actors in repeated principal roles across television. Can we please look beyond the usual suspects soon?

This aside, there is much to admire about Jack Irish, just stay alert to keep up with the plot.

Jack Irish airs 8:30pm Sunday on ABC1.