ANIMAL KINGDOM (2010)

Watched: 8/29/2010

Write-ups will be rushed (and probably full of typos!) as I’m desperately trying to catch up! Sorry!!

There was a lot of hype surrounding this film and I’ve been enjoying Australian exports… well, my whole life. However, this particular film, simply about a young man being thrust into the arms of the criminal side of his family, ended up feeling like it was lacking something. The way I described this film after seeing it was as a long, drawn out version of the 2nd act of a better film. There was little in the way of character buildup and it jumps right into things so that there’s little in which emotions can be invested. I didn’t care who in this family lived or died. Maybe that was the point, but it made for a less than engaging theater going experience. The finale, too, was a bit anti-climatic as it relied purely on emotion, emotion I didn’t have built up. While there are flashes of great stuff here and superb acting throughout (especially by Jacki Weaver as the family matriarch who becomes a fully fleshed character a little too late, would love to see a movie all about her beginnings!), the whole is definitely far less than the sum of its parts. Maybe A PROPHET spoiled me on great crime dramas, but for my money ANIMAL KINGDOM is simply ‘okay’.

• 2010 New: 256
• 2010 Re-see: 115
• 2010 TOTAL: 371