Animal Kingdom

Starring: James Frecheville, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton
Directed by: David Michod
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After his mother dies, a young man (James Frecheville) goes to life with his grandmother (Jacki Weaver) and her family of criminals.

Review:

Tim: Animal Kingdom was one of the best (maybe THE best) Australian film of 2010. It racked up the Australian Film Institute awards, and was nominated for one Academy Award- Best Supporting Actress for Jacki Weaver. I thought this was a good movie that occasionally moves too slow. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away by it.

The title is appropriate because it really is a jungle among the Cody family. This film does a spectacular job of portraying the ups and downs of a crime family. It certainly isn't an easy life, and the unconventionality of it is on stage for all to see. I do wish the movie had done a better job of explaining this family. I was very confused- are they equal to the mafia in the United States? Were they lower level thugs of no real importance in the grand scheme of Australian crime? I had no idea. I wish I had more context to understand them better.

The characters are all so interesting because they were well written and brought to life by strong actors. James Frecheville does an impressive job in only his second film. Frecheville seems like he has some talent, but was purposely held back from showing much of that. He gives an incredibly reserved performance, mostly which consists of him standing or sitting quietly with his eyes down. I wanted a bit more from him, but I understand why he had to appear so withdrawn into himself. He does give a good performance. I really liked Joel Edgerton, but I wish he had more screen time. His presence is felt throughout the film, though. Jacki Weaver is very, very good because she plays such a complex, unconventional role. I think she deserved her Academy Award nomination, but I'm glad she didn't win. Her performance is among the most memorable of the film.


The film does suffer from some slow scenes in the middle of the film. It builds up momentum, but loses much of that in very talky, someone redundant scenes. I lost interest for a while before finally getting back on board as the movie picks up the momentum again for the end. Speaking of which, the conclusion was pretty fantastic. I loved how this movie ended.

I wish I could have liked this movie more, but I felt like its flaws prevented it from being great. The movie lost much of its power and momentum in the middle, which caused me to lose interest for a good fifteen minutes or so. I thought Pearce was underutilized- he needed to make a bigger impact on the film, but couldn't. I also wish we could have seen a bit more from Frecheville. Even with those flaws, Animal Kingdom is a classic Australian film, and a good one overall. I enjoyed this intimate look at the interworkings of an Australian crime family.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Ned Kelly, Goodfellas, Memento