Despite good performances, 'Somersault' tests your patience

Her first bad decision in "Somersault" is to make a move on her mom's boyfriend. Her last is to drunkenly invite a couple of horny guys home, all but inviting them to molest her. In between those stupid moments, 16-year-old Heidi (Abbie Cornish) starts to learn a little better how the real world works, and the difference between love, sex and raw need. Too bad only the most patient viewers will really care, since the movie is heavy on atmosphere but very light on plot.

Magnolia Pictures 'Somersault' C The verdict: A portrait of two lost souls, designed for very patient viewers. Director: Cate Shortland Starring: Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran, Erik Thomson, Hollie Andrew Run time: 106 minutes Release date: April 21, 2006 Rating: Not rated; contains profanity, nudity and sexual situations. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Somersault'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Writer-director Cate Shortland's feature debut virtually swept the 2004 Australian Film Institute's awards, winning best picture and best actor trophies for Cornish and Sam Worthington.

Worthington plays Joe, son of a wealthy farmer near the lake town where Heidi lands after running away from home. He's handsome, and he's a guy, so Heidi pursues him as good boyfriend material — whether he wants to be or not. Though they wind up in bed together, there's an aloofness in Joe that's the opposite of Heidi's directness. "I'm not a big hand-holder," is his understated description of his emotional evasiveness.

You start to realize both Heidi and Joe are only partly formed. They go through the motions of what "normal" people are supposed to do, but they're having to learn by trial and error what they really want in life. (For Joe, it may not be women, or at least not only women.)

"Somersault" is a dual character portrait painted in small, precise strokes. We see the way others see Heidi, as a force of nature who knows how to wield her sexuality more than she knows how to control it. The control issue for Joe is a temper that always seems ready to explode. Like a supporting character in the film who has Asperger's Syndrome, neither of them is naturally gifted at reading other people's needs or moods clearly.

The main reason to see "Somersault" is to appreciate the performances — especially from Cornish, who has to make us care for a character who ping-pongs between naivete and recklessness. She's especially fine conveying a mix of pride and humiliation near the end, when an older guy, well aware of Heidi's power as a man-trap, coolly orders her to steer clear of his daughter, Heidi's new friend.

Worthington is also strong, and the two actors almost — almost — make you not mind the slow patches, and the repetitive shots of Heidi strolling pensively along the lake's shore. If nothing else, it's a great career launcher for Cornish, who since "Somersault" has landed plum roles opposite Heath Ledger in "Candy" and Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."