RISK

Australia, 2000, 93 minutes. Colour.
Bryan Brown, Tom Long, Claudia Karvan, Jason Clarke.
Directed by Alan White.

Risk is a drama about white collar fraud. It focuses on an insurance company in Sydney (with some attractive shots of the city).

Bryan Brown is a self-educated adjuster of claims. He resents the bosses upstairs. He devises what he calls an experiment to make money on the claims – employing the heart-on-sleeve recruit, played by Tom Long, to go to people, persuade them not to go to court because they would lose so much in costs in the case and accept an eighty percent fulfilment of their policy. This works for some time. The young man is rather bewildered, but is attracted by Brown’s enthusiasm. He is also introduced to a lawyer who arranges information about these claims, played by Claudia Karvan.

The lawyer becomes very ambitious and joins with some thugs to engineer car crashes and generate more claims. This is beyond what Brown was planning and, while he had encouraged Karvan to seduce Tom Long, he is very wary of her ambitious plans.

The film reaches ahead as the three confront each other – with some disaster for two of the characters and success for the other.

The film was directed by Alan White, director of the award-winning The Erskineville Kings. Bryan Brown gives his standard ocker performance. Claudia Karvan gives her standard brittle and assured performance. They are both very good at these roles. Tom Long, who had appeared in Sea Change as well as The Dish and The Book of Revelation, is persuasive as the naïve and bewildered young man who is seduced by attention, money and power.

1. An interesting crime drama? White collar crime? The law, ethics?

2. The Sydney settings, the offices, the pubs, the luxury apartments, the cliffs and coast? Contemporary and real?

3. The title, the nature of risk, willingness to take risk? Daring? Seduction into risk?

4. Ben’s story, the framework of his walking away from the accident? His age, studies, the background of his life, shy, going to the job, the training session, his naivety, people laughing at him, with Kriesky? His listening to the stories, his compassion? Kriesky and his revealing that the man with whiplash was feigning injury, letting loose the dog and the man chasing it? The whiplash claims?

5. His assignment to Kriesky, Kriesky’s experiment and deal? The plausibility about claims, money paid in court expenses, the limited adjustment of the benefits of insurance? The persuasion to the collage of customers? Their taking the money? His receiving the cash from Kriesky, his conscience?

6. Seeing Louise, with Kriesky, the lunches and the drinks, the revelation of the plan, the experiment? Louise and her cases? Kriesky and the money? Kriesky and his despising the upstairs bosses? Ben the face of the scam?

7. Louise in herself, studying law, with Ben, the drinks, the kiss, the swim in the pool and her lies, the relationship? The effect on Ben, his infatuation, jealousy of Kriesky?

8. Louise and her crime partners, with Ben watching them engineer crashes, generating claims? She organising these scams? The thugs, the types?

9. Kriesky and his caution, wanting to keep control, having Louise as a beneficiary, her resenting that name? His holding the lists? The fraud squad and their attention, Kriesky with Louise, urging her to control Ben?

10. Ben, emotionally hurt, Louise as persuasive? Her being determined, the issue of the crash on the bridge, the list?

11. Kriesky and his changing Louise from beneficiary? His liking of Ben? Talking over the list with the fraud squad? Hurrying in the car, the crash on the bridge, his death?

12. The police, Ben proving that he had done nothing illegal?

13. Louise, trying to persuade Ben? His giving the list to the police, their coming to arrest her? His asking her what she would have done in his place?

14. The bosses, Kriesky’s deal for Ben as beneficiary? Ben and his explanation of the court costs and the eighty percent restitution?

15. The tantalising attraction of white collar crime, fraud, scams? The effect? Success at first – and consequences, especially of greed and ambition?