Tracks (2013 film)

Plot

In 1977, Robyn Davidson travels from Alice Springs across 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) of Australian deserts to the Indian Ocean with her dog and four camels. National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan documents her journey.

Cast

Production

There were five attempts in the early 1980s and 1990s to turn the book into a film. In 1993, Julia Roberts was attached to star in a planned Caravan Pictures adaptation. The project eventually fell apart.

In May 2012, it was reported that Mia Wasikowska would play Robyn Davidson in a John Curran–directed adaptation. In August, Adam Driver was cast as Rick Smolan. The screenplay was written by Marion Nelson.

Finance was sourced from Screen Australia, the South Australian Film Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival, Deluxe Australia, pre-sales, and Canada's Aver Media Finance.

With a US$12 million budget, the film began shooting on 8 October 2012. It was filmed in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Julie Ryan was a co-producer.

Tracks was released to DVD and Blu-ray on 25 June 2014.

Box office

Tracks received a limited theatrical release in North America opening in 4 theaters and grossing $21,544, with an average of $5,386 per theater and ranking #62 at the box office. The widest release for the film was 67 theaters and it ultimately earned $510,007 domestically and $4,368,235 internationally for a total of $4,878,242, below its estimated budget of $12 million.

Critical response

Tracks received mainly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film has a score of 81% based on 111 reviews with an average score of 7 out of 10. The critical consensus states "What Tracks lacks in excitement, it more than makes up with gorgeous cinematography and Mia Wasikowska's outstanding performance." The film also has a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Leonard Maltin gave Tracks 3.5 out of 4 stars, and has stated that it is the last movie (by wide release date) that will be included in the final edition of Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.

Word and Film rated Tracks as the best movie adaptation of the year for 2014, and Sydney Arts Guide awarded Marion Nelson the Best Adapted Screenplay Award 2014.

Mandy Walker won 2014 Best Cinematography awards for Tracks from the Australian Cinematographers Society and the Film Critics Circle of Australia.