Review of Animal Kingdom (2010) by Raul V — 13 Mar 2011

This is an affecting, even quite numbing film about the damage that can be done to people, families and relationships when they get involved in the crimminal underworld. It's gritty but not overly violent, more menacing throughout, and the performances certainoy echo that.

It's hard to enjoy the film; you're not meant to, and its hard to care about most of the characters, including the lead, which is probably where it could've been stronger. The main character is pretty much autistic in his approach, and doesn't give any emotion away until one later scene, but its hard to feel sympathetic for him because though he's young and is carried along, he doesn't do anything to try to get out. The other characters (except the girl, who's the only one its really possible to care about) are deliberately distant, suspicious and de-sensitised, though you do feel there's comradery in the family if not genuine love. Their activities are somewhat believeable; they react rather than forward plan, and retaliate to random acts of violence with random acts of violence. This is probably quite common in the crimminal underworld, but the fact that only one of the family seems to be doing anything at all with his time (selling drugs) makes you wonder how the others are brining any money in. Then there's the police, who are unbelieveably badly managed- corruption is believeable but the idea that there's a squad car parked outside a guy's house for weeks looking for his brother but doesn't follow him to the supermarket and walk in their after him (where he meets his brother) is pretty unlikely, as is the idea that you can just run away from witness protection, come back and nobody checks you've been seeing those you're protected from etc. But these things aren't too major so the sense of uneasy realism is retained throughout.

Definately worth seeing but a word of warning- it's not fun!