Joe F. thought I was too critical of Australian cinema (based on that one movie) and insisted that I see this. Now I don't think I would have ever sought this movie out. When It started I was ill disposed towards it. It seemed like it would be a too typical crime drama, it even felt a bit like an episode of Prime Suspect. The lead character Joshua 'J' Cody was one of those too silent people, the kind your kind of disappointed even exist, showing no emotion and seeming to just not care about most anything. Josh watches the Australian version of 'Deal or No Deal' while the paramedics tend to his mother for a heroin overdose. She dies, he calls his grandma, and moves in with her and his uncles.
The uncles, well there robbers. In association with family friend 'Baz' they've done pretty well, but the cops suspect that there the ones behind a crime spree, and periodically stake out there residence, primarily in search of the particularly violent brother 'Pope'. The film takes about 20+ minutes to really get going, but when 'Baz' is killed, something I didn't expect to happen, not that early in the film at least, things change. 'Baz' was murdered by some particularly violent cops, so 'Pope' and his brothers set a trap and kill some patrolmen. Some members of the family are arrested, but there is no real evidence so they are released. Brother Craig gets paranoid and decides to hid out with an old accomplice, but the cops have bugged the guys house and Craig is killed. An honest cop played by Guy Pearce tries to get 'J' to turn on his uncles, and succeeds when an increasingly paranoid 'Pope', convinced that 'J' has already turned, kills his girlfriend Nicole and tries to kill him. Also something is defiantly not right with family matriarch Janine, who has connections (i.e. dirt) which make it so 'J' is neither safe in witness protection or with any member of his family.
I can't remember the last time I saw a film that I so disliked at the beginning and was so impressed with at the end. Animal Kingdom is about the savage in man, brute animal instinct and cruelty, the strong preying on the weak, panic and heard instinct. A few might rise above this bestiality, Detective Leckie, maybe 'J', perhaps even 'Baz' had he lived. It's rare to see a film that progresses so naturalisticly, like life it doesn't seem planed out so much as just played out. The characterizations are all fine, unusually real seeming, and even nuanced in a strange way. I almost can't say that I liked it, no one to truly invest in or connect with, but I was impressed by it. It leaves a certain taste in the mouth that's hard to accept, to embrace, or to even enjoy. But it leaves a strong, pungent impression, its deep even as its base. A film that can be worth reckoning with, but with which I can not bring myself to love. Grade: B
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment