Animal Kingdom review

Leckie Things survive because they're strong, and everything reaches an understanding. But not everything survives because it's strong. Some creatures are weak, but they survive because they're being protected by the strong for one reason or another. You may think that, because of the circles you move in or whatever, that you're one of the strong creatures, but you're not, you're one of the weak ones. That's nothing against you, you're just - you're just weak because you're young. But you've survived because you've been protected by the strong. But they're not strong anymore, and they're certainly not able to protect you.

Director: David Michôd
(2010)

Despite vicious shootouts, exhilarating car chases and intense bank heists, the best thing about the crime genre is the intricacies and personalities of its characters. This mould, perfectly demonstrated by The Godfather and Goodfellas, is embraced by David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom, the true story of a family of Australian criminals set around the time of their downfall.

After his mother overdoes on heroin, Teenager J (James Frecheville) is taken under the wing of his estranged Grandmother ‘Smurf’. Via voiceover we are quickly acquainted with his uncles, the core of the crime family that the police have finally had enough of. We are quickly plunged into an engrossing and violent story about a young man getting embroiled with his criminal family and the repercussions it has on his life.

 The reason Animal Kingdom works is due to superb performances from the majority of the cast. While J’s family initially come across as a bunch of thugs and psychopaths, each one exhibits hidden depth that is revealed thanks to their nuanced performances. His grandmother ‘Smurf’ (Jacki Weaver) is a compassionate and caring woman who takes J in and brings him into the family business. She’s the glue, keeping his volatile uncles (played by Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton, Ben Mendelsohn as well as their partner, played by Joel Edgerton) in check. After the a family member is killed by the police, Michôd plunges his characters into panic as J watches the family crumble , becoming ensnared in their downfall as the plot develops. As the Cody family falls, compassionate Sgt Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce) tries to save J from his potential criminal future. This personal conflict that begins to pull J apart propels Animal Kingdom past its light crime genre roots into a much more gripping, harrowing film that absorbs its audience and doesn’t let go.

Animal Kingdom does what many films fail to do, create moments of genuine shock. While this may not sound like a towering achievement, it makes events unpredictable, and therefore more engaging. Much like the other great non American thriller of 2010, A Prophet, these shocks aren’t used for cheap thrills, but instead are integrated into essential character and plot development. Still, these shocks would be meaningless if the build-up to them was lacklustre, and this pitfall is avoided thanks to a great script from (writer). This, combined with some eerie and surreal music seamlessly improves the atmosphere of many of the films scenes. It’s a subtle feature, but like many aspects of animal kingdom, the most interesting parts are those that we as a viewer uncover ourselves.

Where Animal Kingdom fails to be consistent is in the performance of its lead, J (James Frecheville). Offering an almost expressionless mannequin void of emotion, it detracts from our connection to the family. The result is the impact of the family’s downfall is lessened, making its audience care less than it should. It’s not like Frecheville can’t pull off the required emotion, a late scene involving his solitary emotional breakdown in a bathroom proves he is a more than capable actor, making the directors choice to blunt his performance maddening. Other flaws, such as a lack of development for Leckie’s home life is more of a missed opportunity than a deal breaker.

2010 was a year of fantastic films. On the mainstream front we got the intricate and bombastic Inception, the masterful The Social Network and pure nostalgia in the form of Toy Story 3.  On the other end of the spectrum, films like A Prophet and Never Let Me Go can be grouped together in the ‘criminally overlooked’ category. Animal kingdom also resides in this domain, a crime thriller that's more about its characters than violence or drugs, and is all the better for it.

 

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