....via NETFLIX and thought it was quite worthwhile for me and very recommendable to the right audience.
The Link
This is a gritty, cerebral, crime drama from that Land Down Under featuring a dark, slow moving story about a criminal family and the cops working as fast as they can to catch them while the plot twists with interesting surprises coming from all sides.
I suggest you use the subtitles.
Aussie Jacki Weaver is Academy Award nominated for Best Supporting Actress and she's very good, initially providing motherly and grandmotherly compassion, sheltering and understanding to her amoral criminal clan until her role grows.
Plus, Guy Pearce plays a detective which greatly adds to the interesting vibe which I think this flick shares with "L. A. Confidential."
This movie also reminded me of "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, because of the sudden violence and the duality of the criminal/detective story.
And some similarities to Casey Affleck's excellent tour de force, "The Killer Inside Me," also came to mind.
But, in "Animal Kingdom" the storyline is much more tortuous and less fully explained than in those movies, which may leave more impatient viewers confused or bored and make anally analytical movie watchers pucker as they discern "plot holes" that the director probably consciously chose to leave uncovered.
I was personally content allowing the moody soundtrack and less than crisp editing to work toward increasing this film's tension for me, but others might find those particular cinematic elements' long lingering usage here to be overbearing and underwhelming.
So, I believe patient fans of this genre, who can enjoy languorously observing movie making methods being used, sometimes as much as seeing the completed result, will appreciate "Animal Kingdom" the most, while those who require or prefer their movie storytelling to provide a more explanatory back story or a satisfying final resolution, while employing lots of chase scenes, gun play, nudity and other such excitement, should probably choose another flick.
However, if you found the profound desperation and stark bleakness so realistically depicted in "Winter's Bone" worth your watching time as a video voyeur, perhaps this is another slowly rewarding, on screen offering you'd enjoy savoring in the safe, protected, comfort of your home.
Anybody seen it?
The Link
This is a gritty, cerebral, crime drama from that Land Down Under featuring a dark, slow moving story about a criminal family and the cops working as fast as they can to catch them while the plot twists with interesting surprises coming from all sides.
I suggest you use the subtitles.
Aussie Jacki Weaver is Academy Award nominated for Best Supporting Actress and she's very good, initially providing motherly and grandmotherly compassion, sheltering and understanding to her amoral criminal clan until her role grows.
Plus, Guy Pearce plays a detective which greatly adds to the interesting vibe which I think this flick shares with "L. A. Confidential."
This movie also reminded me of "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, because of the sudden violence and the duality of the criminal/detective story.
And some similarities to Casey Affleck's excellent tour de force, "The Killer Inside Me," also came to mind.
But, in "Animal Kingdom" the storyline is much more tortuous and less fully explained than in those movies, which may leave more impatient viewers confused or bored and make anally analytical movie watchers pucker as they discern "plot holes" that the director probably consciously chose to leave uncovered.
I was personally content allowing the moody soundtrack and less than crisp editing to work toward increasing this film's tension for me, but others might find those particular cinematic elements' long lingering usage here to be overbearing and underwhelming.
So, I believe patient fans of this genre, who can enjoy languorously observing movie making methods being used, sometimes as much as seeing the completed result, will appreciate "Animal Kingdom" the most, while those who require or prefer their movie storytelling to provide a more explanatory back story or a satisfying final resolution, while employing lots of chase scenes, gun play, nudity and other such excitement, should probably choose another flick.
However, if you found the profound desperation and stark bleakness so realistically depicted in "Winter's Bone" worth your watching time as a video voyeur, perhaps this is another slowly rewarding, on screen offering you'd enjoy savoring in the safe, protected, comfort of your home.
Anybody seen it?
