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MOVIE: Animal Kingdom   
DIRECTOR:  David Michôd
STARS:    Jacki Weaver, James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton
GENRE:   Psychological crime drama
SCORE:   9 Gu’s
 
The story line…………

Set in 1980’s Melbourne underworld, 17-year old Josh (Frecheville) is an introverted, apparently emotionally stunted teenager. His mother dies of an overdose and as he waits for the ambulance he calls his grandmother Janine (Weaver) to ask her what he has to do next. She comes over to collect him and takes him back to her home which she shares with her three criminal sons. No one mourns the loss of Josh’s mother, as the family absorbs him into their fold. There’s an unsaid expectation that Josh will follow his uncles into their criminal dealings and he has no say in the matter.

Janine is a totally believable gangster matriarch. She’s strong, protective of her family and takes delusion to a new level. Her eldest son, ‘Pope’ (Mendelsohn), paranoid and completely devoid of a moral compass, has just got out of gaol and is in hiding from a gang of detectives. Middle son Craig (Stapleton) is a cocaine-fuelled user and dealer and extremely volatile; and younger son, Darren (Ford), who in contrast to the rest of his family is quiet and withdrawn.

Pope’s best friend and business partner Baz, (Edgerton) is a family man and wants to get out of the game. However, before he can make the move, Baz is gunned down in a very public execution by the police, and the tension mounts from here on in. Pope and his brothers take their revenge almost immediately and the mad spiral of events leads to Josh being taken in for questioning. Senior homicide detective Leckie (Pearce) is after his family but recognises Josh’s predicament and plays his cards intelligently in trying to get Josh to open up about his uncles.

Suspense builds throughout the film, which takes unpredictable twists that keeps you focused on the crazy lives unfolding on screen. This is an excellent film. Weaver is chillingly brilliant. In fact all the performances are outstanding - a scene between Pope and Josh is particularly disturbing because it is just so well acted – but is integral to the outcome of the story.

MOVIE: New York, I love you   
DIRECTOR:  Multiple directors
STARS:   Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, Rachel Bilson, Maggie Q, Robin Wright Penn, Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Blake Lively, Andy Garcia, Julie Christie, Christina Ricci, Hayden Christensen, John Hurt, James Caan, Shia Laboeuf, Chris Cooper, Drea De Matteo, Qi Shu, and more
GENRE:  Romance, drama
SCORE:   6 Gu’s out of 10
 
The story line…………

Set in NY – but you could have guessed that from the title – is a collection of 8-minute stories, whose theme is love. But love in all its guises – unrequited, pure passion, jealousy, young love, old love, friendship, fleeting love…..

The stories include a pickpocket who spars with his equal; a young boy who takes a girl in wheelchair to his prom; a Hasidic jewel dealer on the day before her wedding reveals herself to her Indian business colleague; a writer tries his luck picking up a girl; an old couple take a walk on their anniversary; and a man takes a child for a walk in Central Park.

There are points for and against this type of film. A point for the film is that you get to see so many good actors in one movie, playing parts you’ve never seen them tackle before. A point against this film is that it’s like reading a book of short stories – some stories you really enjoy and want to get to know the characters better; whereas other stories you just want them to finish so you can get on to the next one.

   By Liz.D

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