The chavvy Melbourne underworld has characters, maybe a bit of life, certainly a lot of scag, and some real proper darkness. Animal Kingdom did not do this element of Aussie society any justice. The 'lead' character J sounded and acted like a wet soppy rag, the Cody brothers barely displayed any menace, and mum Janine was a poor shadow of one-eyed brothel owner Kath Pettingill.
I am not sure what the film was about. Was it about a crim Melbourne family? Was it about a matriarch? Was it about different lives? The cynic in me says it was a slap up job in response to The UnderBelly series and the resurgence of Melbourne hits in the past couple of years. Either way the film is not what I would call remarkable.
And it plods along. Someone dies, someone shoots up, and J lurches along, bland as a dry Sao biscuit. The main reason for me watching the film was to see why Jackie Weaver earned herself an Oscar nomination in the character of Janine 'Smurf' Cody. As for the impact of Smurf, well it just didn't cut it for me. Sure she had power and a hold but the Director could have gone to town much more than he did. Weaver's performance is not worthy of an Oscar because there was no real stretch in her acting. Lynette Curran did a much better job as a mum of useless sons in The Boys, albeit a movie with a very different focus.
All in all Animal Kingdom is a watchable film but nothing special.
I am not sure what the film was about. Was it about a crim Melbourne family? Was it about a matriarch? Was it about different lives? The cynic in me says it was a slap up job in response to The UnderBelly series and the resurgence of Melbourne hits in the past couple of years. Either way the film is not what I would call remarkable.
And it plods along. Someone dies, someone shoots up, and J lurches along, bland as a dry Sao biscuit. The main reason for me watching the film was to see why Jackie Weaver earned herself an Oscar nomination in the character of Janine 'Smurf' Cody. As for the impact of Smurf, well it just didn't cut it for me. Sure she had power and a hold but the Director could have gone to town much more than he did. Weaver's performance is not worthy of an Oscar because there was no real stretch in her acting. Lynette Curran did a much better job as a mum of useless sons in The Boys, albeit a movie with a very different focus.
All in all Animal Kingdom is a watchable film but nothing special.
