Frankly they have been doing stuff for us lately. The prospect of the Australian gangster movie seemed like a misnomer until Chopper came out at the outset of the decade. I haven't decided yet if Animal Kingdom is better than Chopper but that I put them in the same category is high high praise. They're not similar films but they do share something aside from the crime themes... impending doom and sudden violence. Come to think of it, so does The Proposition but I digress. I left the cinema just shaken up by what I'd saw, in the way you might having seen a horror movie. I'm not sure if David Michod has made anything else but this guy is a monster. He's made his own Australian Goodfellas. I'm sorry but I'm in the mood to heap praise because of what he's done. I guess I'm saying that as well because they are very similar stories- kid gets mixed up with the mob though they are very different takes on how you could make that; Henry Hill is clearly completely seduced by that life- our hero, J is less seduced, more left no option but to enter this pack of wolves.
It begins fairly straight-forward as J moves in with his estranged family after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. He's generally welcomed in and no effort is made to disguise that they're a family that strives on criminal activities; I believe they're armed robbers but some sell drugs as well. And this is all well and good- a nice little character piece is developing... but then a seemingly major character is shockingly murdered by the police in cold blood. From now on.. all bets are off. This is Michod saying, anyone could be up for the chop at anytime. And this air of dread just descends over the film.
The kid played by , is just looks vacant the whole time and I think this role is the only example I can think of where you could get away with that. Being unassuming is like a special power, it's the best pokerface but that's nowhere near enough to get him out of this situation. One of his uncle is extremely highly strung and all that coke won't help and another uncle 'Pope', played by Ben Mendelsohn is superbly creepy from frame1 and becomes increasingly unsettling through out the movie, where one of his family dies he just makes matters increasingly worse.
The cast are just amazing including Joel Edgerton as the one fairly good egg in the family and Guy Pearce, the one decent cop in Melbourne. What's also interesting is that the cops in this movie seem worse than anyone or at least equally as bad, as this bent or murderous force. It not that we want anyone in this family to get away with anything but I guess we want more for them than to get shot like dogs.
I don't really want to say anymore about it lest I spoil it except please find Animal Kingdom and watch it. It is raw and thrilling, disturbing and engrossing. Highly Recommended. Unlike Walkabout bars, Fosters, Veggiemite, Yahoo Serious movies, Danni Minogue, Quantas....
