starring Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce
written and directed by David Michôd
113 minutes
Teenager Josh Cody is sent to live with his relatives after his mother dies of a drug overdose. His uncles are all criminals. Josh's grandmother looks after them. Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), one of his uncles, is in hiding from the police. Things seem reasonably calm until the police decide to kill Baz Brown (Joel Edgerton), Pope's best friend. Pope and his two brothers retaliate by killing two police officers.
The police retaliate. Pope tries to exert control over Josh and Darren, his remaining brother. Things get uglier and uglier. Josh gets questioned by Police Detective Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce) who urges Josh to tells them what he knows. Josh is caught in an impossible situation but then something happens that ultimately helps him decide which way to lean and what he has to do.
Jacki Weaver played the part of the Cody matriarch. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this movie. It was her first of two Academy Award nominations.
Justin Rozniak plays the part of a crooked cop. Its a fairly small role in this film. I know him from Mr. Inbetween, an Australian TV show that ran for three seasons on FX.
Most of the performances in this film are very good but they are also so muted that it was hard for me to feel passionate about them, one way or another. There are many wordless moments. A lot of the acting is in the body language and facial expressions.
This movie is quietly depressing. It was not a fun watch but I couldn't tear myself away from it. I wanted to see how it ended and what happened on the way there. I foresaw the ending about 20-30 minutes before it was over. The ending was not hopeful but it did seem logical. I'm not sure that I would recommend this movie to most people. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend it. This isn't the sort of movie that I can see myself watching again.
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