Majestic, Elusive Trailer For 'Tracks'

This hits its marks, to be sure -- grand vistas, the isolated figure of a girl leading camels across the frame, intense music -- but it's Robyn Davidson's motivation that will sell this story. This is based on Davidson's 1700 mile journey across the Australian desert and, while that's pretty dramatic, it's what drove her to do such a thing that will make audiences want to see the movie. We need to know more about this girl, what circumstances in her life compelled her to strike out in this way, and what, if anything, she got out of it.

We get a hint of Davidson's personality in the trailer -- 'I'm so alone'. There's a sense of her flip attitude about trying to cross the desert -- 'Why not?' -- but that's it. Really, that only succeeds in distancing us from her. She may, in fact, have been an aloof person at the time, but you don't want prospective audiences to feel the protagonist is keeping them at arm's length, especially in a trailer.

The movie is getting some good (and some great) reviews but those won't hook an audience into seeing this, at least not in a theater. Future trailers will have to paint a better portrait of Davidson. If we care about her we might care to see a movie about her journey.