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Sadly Over-hyped

Must See Movie...

Dreadfully Boring

The acting in this movie is really good.

ANIMAL KINGDOM is another slice of gruelling nastiness that comes to us courtesy of our Australian cousins. It's not quite as downbeat and depressing as SNOWTOWN, although it gets close at times. This elaborate thriller is about a sprawling family of ne'er-do-wells and no-good criminals and what happens when a young and innocent relation is brought into the fold.It's not really the narrative that's important here, although there are a number of fresh situations and off-hand moments that make it stand out (that opener is a real clincher). It works best when delivering a series of shocks and sudden twists that the viewer certainly doesn't see coming. No, it's the characterisation where ANIMAL KINGDOM really shines; this is a film for actors, showcasing a number of realistic performances from the cast.Ben Mendelsohn is the one who really stands out in his star-making turn as the thoroughly creepy guy at the top of the chain, while Joel Edgerton and Sullivan Stapleton bring depth to their otherwise thuggish roles. James Frecheville plays it quiet and understated as the lead although the reliable Guy Pearce shines as a cop. Jacki Weaver may play one of the most understated and nasty characters ever. It's a decent film, certainly more compelling than most things Hollywood put out these days.

It begins with the dulcet tones of Andrew O'Keefe's afternoon Deal or No Deal and a mother's heroin overdose. Joshua 'J' Cody sits blinking, almost unaware as the paramedics take her away. We're not sure if he is reacting to the death or is his gaze is focused on the television. Some criticism has been leveraged towards James Frecheville's performance as blank and unaffected by the chaos around him, and I suppose that there may be some truth in that. But to really understand this character you need to have met him. I have met a few Js in my time; they flit around the school system without so much as a word, and you could very well blow their mother's head off next to them and have the stony face not move an inch. They are barely of age and yet already covered by layers of learned masculinity that prevents any overt emotional reaction (and when he finally cries, it is with full-bodied shudders and snot). The brief, morose voice-over confirms as much - the Cody way of life is not so much different from what he has faced growing up his whole life. In David Michod's Animal Kingdom he is not simply thrust into the world of crime like many of these stories tend to do. He finds the Codys in a period of transition, where people are trying to change and leave for a better life. Their reasoning is that they can no longer live of life of constant surveillance and hiding, that at some point the certain thrills and riches of the criminal lifestyle cannot make up for the vice grip on their freedom and peace of mind. Baz has a wife and kid, and 20k that has become 60 in the stock market - future prospects. Edgerton has that Hollywood look about him, and seems more adjusted to civilian life than the Cody brothers could ever be. On some level, he has an assurance that they cannot afford. J also has this briefly, although he is haunted by the actions of his family throughout his stay at Nicole's. He drones out of the 'normal' family dinner, the shot rack focusing to the fate of the two policemen he helped lure to their deaths. It's a strange environment that Michod has created. It's not exactly the grim underbelly of the crime world, although Arkapaw has siphoned away its colour all the same. Australia does not have the same gun culture that these crime stories usually have, but the characters have no troubles with access there. A morbidly humorous scene shows this, with the masculine bravado of road-rage (not even that) being swiftly dispelled by the sight of a gun. The most intriguing aspect of the film, apart from the uniformly excellent performances, is the soundtrack. Partos knows exactly when to hold back here, so the viewer has time and head-space to be able to make their own judgements instead of being drowned out by the emotions of the score. He makes the silent cop killings chilling. He knows how to compress the Cody family with a cacophony of droning and buzzing as the investigators close in on them. And he knows how to magnify a moment in the slow motion, to show a monster sitting in his domain, or a house succumb to a SWAT raid like it us merely another Tuesday. These moments take on a dream-like quality, filtered through J's perspective until we are not sure what is really happening or who to trust. Would cops really shoot him in the vehicle? There is a brilliant moment when cops orchestrate a drug raid on the safe house that J stays in, also being guard by cops. The moral line has long been blurred that a police vest no longer holds any meaning. Ben Mendelsohn's Pope reminds me of (and looks a little like) Gary Oldman's Stansfield, both a quick trigger from exploding into a furious rage. But while Oldman was constantly on edge and trembling through his skin, Mendelsohn is dishevelled in a rat-like manner. You can see the weariness in his eyes and the lines in his face, and while his brothers panic, he simmers. Because he lacks this ability the character is more dangerous for it, and we feel threat from all corners, particularly as he leers over Nicole, and with a few simple words, bores into the innocent consciousness of J. The standout, however, is Jacki Weaver's Smurf, the mother hen of the nest. Unlike Pope, she never breaks character even once, reserving the same twisted smile and coo for her sons and cops alike. Her tendrils are wrapped tightly around her family, roping them in through motherly affection with incestuous tones. Weaver has a matter-of-fact delivery in her voice, never under any illusions about what she has brought into the world and how she will go about protecting them - even to the extent of throwing one cub to the vultures to shield the other two. And what Michod has commandeered in this ending is so magnificent that even she does not see it coming. After freely admitting J has been truly lost, she welcomes him back into her den with the belief that he has been neutered. But are we cheering for J as he achieves his vengeance? No, because in a small victory he has lost everything else, and that fresh-faced, solemn boy has replaced by a lion.

This is one of those movies with a minimalistic style, yet a very powerful set of performances. It is a character based film, with surprising and complex situations. Each new turn, pushes the preconceptions of each roll to discover layers upon layers of emotional conflict. In Animal Kingdom is the survival of the fittest that prevails over family ties. Director David Michôd doesn't have to be flashy to construct an intense story full of dysfunctional relationships. Not to mention that the editing is as intriguing and suspenseful as the rest of the look of the film. The opening scene alone should be a prelude of a fantastic, emotional roller coaster.

Everything that happens in this film is wrong. 1) The one good brother that wants to exit his family's life of crime is MURDERED by cops in a grocery store parking lot, which leads the other brothers to exact revenge on them. Now, if you're going to base a film on the investigation of these 2 cops' murders, you have to make me want to see the killers brought to justice. The motivation isn't there because you feel that the cops should've rightly been killed. 2)When the paranoid uncle sees the cops coming for him, he does the absolutely most illogical thing he could think of: grab his shotgun and run directly into a wide open field where he is subsequently shot and killed. All he had to do was nothing and he would've be aquitted of the crime just like his other 2 brothers. 3)The girlfriend goes to the lead's house and doesn't even confront the uncles about having the boy break up with her. Why the hell did you go over there then?!4) The lead runs from a cop who blatantly tries to kill him while in witness protection, and he doesn't go straight to Guy Pierce, the ONE GUY who wants to help him and tell him about it?5)While being transported to trial, a cop directly points his gun at the lead and dry fires it for NO REASON. I shouldn't have to go into why this shouldn't have happened. 6)The lead undermines the police's entire investigation to get his uncle's off, which makes you not care about him AT ALL anymore, or his scumbag family. He did it to murder his eldest uncle himself, and then embraces his grandmother lovingly who, for the previous 15 minutes, was trying her damnedest to have him killed. He also chose to spare his gay(?) uncle, who was also complicit in his girlfriend's murder! He just sat there and watched it happen!I really could go on but i'm nearing the 1k word limit and I think you get the point.I really wanted to enjoy this movie going in; it's competently shot, the actors are good (besides the dry performance by the lead), cinematically it is top notch. But everything that happens in it is wrong, and it infuriated me to the point where I had to write this review about it.