Review of Animal Kingdom (2010) by Jack F — 16 Oct 2011

"But we do what we have to do, we do what we must. Just because we don't wanna do something doesn't mean it can't be done.".

That line best sums up "Animal Kingdom," a gritty and compelling Australian film about a crime family and the young boy who gets dragged into it. It's spoken by Janine "Smurf" Cody (Jacki Weaver), the matriarch of the family and basically the Australian female equivalent of Don Corleone. Her operations--mainly armed robbery and drug dealing--are run by her three sons, and the police would like nothing better than to bring these sons down, especially Andrew (nicknamed "Pope," and played by Ben Mendelsohn), the eldest, who has been evading capture for years.

Into this life comes young Joshua (James Frecheville), called "J" by his friends. J's mother has just overdosed on heroin, and with no one else to turn to, he calls upon Smurf, his grandmother, who happily takes him in. He then finds himself entangled in the bloody feud between his family of criminals and the police. When he unknowingly takes part in an act of vengeance carried out by Pope, he finds himself the target of a determined detective named Leckie (Guy Pearce), who wants to use J to bring down the matriarchal empire.

J is really at the center of the story, and newcomer Frecheville is very good in the role (he's in almost every scene). He effectively conveys the torment that poor J has to deal with as he is saddled with the age-old dilemma of family loyalty vs. doing the right thing. This is compounded by the fact that his paranoid uncle Pope has convinced himself that J is talking to the police, so he now has to add his own survival--as well as that of his girlfriend and her family--to his concerns.

In addition to Frecheville, the rest of the cast is outstanding as well. Mendelsohn is absolutely chilling as the unstable Pope, and the very fact that he doesn't look all that threatening makes him seem that much more so. He keeps telling different characters that he's "there for [them]," that they can always talk to him about anything, but you get the sense that his intentions are anything but pure. Pearce has a great scene in which he compares J's situation to the natural order of the wild, in which the weak have to depend upon the strong for survival. His Leckie is not a bad guy (unlike some other cops in the movie); although he wants to put away the criminals, he seems genuinely concerned about J's well-being, and wants to help him.

And then there's Weaver who, in a relatively small amount of screentime, creates a fascinating character in Smurf, who sincerely wants to look out for her grandson, but not at the expense of her own children and her criminal enterprise. Weaver has the kind of Jack Nicholson-esque grin that seems to imply malicious intent, and she uses it to great effect here. It is a wonderful performance, and kudos to the Acadmey voters for recognizing it last year (she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). This may have encouraged people to see the movie.

"Animal Kingdom" is a great film, one that deserves a place on the shelf with all the other great crime/gangster flicks, like "Goodfellas," "Pulp Fiction," "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels," and "The Departed." It hits hard, and it has the kind of tragic conclusion in which you get the sense that nothing has really been resolved. We hope for the best for J, but we really have to wonder where he's going to go from here.