Animal Kingdom

[GreenScar]

David Michôd’s Australian crime film Animal Kingdom debuted a couple months back during Sundance, where it drew a full slate of rave reviews. (Including one from our own David Chen.) At the time we presented a teaser trailer for the film, where the footage was cut to ‘All Out of Love’ by Air Supply. (You’ll never hear the band the same way again after seeing the film, says David.)

Now there is a full Australian trailer for the Sony Pictures Classics release (US trailer is forthcoming) which opens in early summer, on June 3rd. (UPDATE: That’s actually the Australian release date. SPC hasn’t set a US date yet.)

This trailer uses Air Supply to good effect as well, but before the song kicks in we get an introduction to the family of criminals that is the film’s chief concern. Newcomer James Frencheville is Josh, a teenager who goes to Melbourne to live with his uncles Baz (Joel Edgerton) and Darren (Luke Ford) after the death of his mother. His grandmother (Jacki Weaver) turns out to have a serious hold on the family, as you’ll see implied in some of the footage here.

Reviews have thrown around comparisons to The Godfather and The Sopranos, but regardless of that influence I’m already taken with the look of this footage, and what I can see of the performances. This film was high on my watch list after Sundance, and this only makes me more keen to see it.

The official synopsis:

Check out the trailer:

[Holmes]

This seems very solid. And Guy Pearce is a great, intense, underrated actor.

It opens in America in August via Sony Pictures Classics. Limited release, of course. I hope it expands wide enough to open in my area.

Here's the U.S. trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNszOl14AWg

[RadThad]

I want to see this soooo bad. I really hope this gets a wider release or comes to BD soon.


Anybody know how many theaters it's going to tomorrow?

[toddly6666]

I just rented this film. What a fair and nothing-special film. It felt like a TV show episode. And Jacki Weaver is okay, but not Oscar worthy. At least I know now that Melissa Leo will win the Oscar!

Talk about one overrated film of the year!

[RadThad]

I was let down too, but I still feel it's a solid film. Weaver's performance was solid too, but Oscar worthy? I'm not sure either.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

I just rented this film. What a fair and nothing-special film. It felt like a TV show episode. And Jacki Weaver is okay, but not Oscar worthy. At least I know now that Melissa Leo will win the Oscar!

Talk about one overrated film of the year!

Yup, very average. It lost me early on, there's a laughably bad scene where two of the characters wrestling on a couch like a couple of lions. The movie is called Animal Kingdom, I get it! It's like you're back in drama class and the teacher has said "now I want you two to pretend you're a couple of lion cubs playing"...with amateurish acting to match.

[MarkJ801]

You guys are crazy, it was easily one of the best movies of 2010, heaps and bounds better than that other family-crime drama from last year (The Town).

[two40]

Originally Posted by MarkJ801

You guys are crazy, it was easily one of the best movies of 2010, heaps and bounds better than that other family-crime drama from last year (The Town).

This.

[Michael1989]

In my top 10 of 2010, very good indeed.

[toddly6666]

And furthermore, none of the family members seemed threatening. They were trying to act crazy, but they didn't seem that scary, just creepy if anything.

This is the type of movie that gets respect because it has an entertaining climax, but to get there is a boring slog. The thing about The Godfather is that it's good and memorable from beginning to end. There is nothing memorable about the first or second half of Animal Kingdom nor is there anything memorable from any of the dialogue. The movie is only entertaining when Guy Pierce is on screen. The "godmother" played by Jacki Weaver may be a cold biotch but there is nothing in her acting or character that makes her really seem like a cold biotch. She's just following the screenplay just like everyone else. As I was watching the one "wild-drugged up" brother, it just seemed like he was acting like he just read the character description, "a drugged-up tattooed paranoid person". Nothing seemed natural in this film. If anything the main kid was the best actor in the film. Everyone else seemed to just be actors playing a disfunctional family involved with crime. The main bad brother, Pope, just seems bad because the screenplay told him to act bad. Everything about the movie just reeked "unnaturalness."

And the DVD cover is just annoying with its "Australia's answer to Goodfellas." Give me a break, not even close to any good family mafia film.