Review of The Vicious Kind (2009) by Lakin A — 20 Aug 2010

***This might contain spoilers...it might not. Who knows. It's late. If it's poorly written then, yeah. Like I said. It's late.***.

It is the home front and the human connection that gives The Vicious Kind, a 2009 film festival hit, its impact. As it?s completely stripped of any glamour, charm, sap or fruit-cakiness, this independent film deals with the human issue from the nitty-gritty perspective. It?s back-story is full of despair which makes the sympathy for the overly down-and-out characters increase tenfold. The story, the characters and their actions all come together as they only could in a situation as depressing as the one at hand. Yet, all of it seems so natural. Emotions change on a whim. People make choices they regret just moments later. Anyone who is anyone has past guilt that deep down they want to make right. For the characters in The Vicious Kind, it?s getting to the resolution that?s the problem.

Setting the tone immediately, the viewer is introduced to the main character, Caleb (Adam Scott) as he sits alone, crying at a diner booth. Shortly after being joined by his brother, Peter (Alex Frost), Caleb is shown doing what he does best (and often) throughout the film: turning his moods radically. Caleb drives Peter and his girlfriend Emma (Brittany Snow) up to Caleb and Peter?s father, Donald?s (J.K. Simmons) house for Thanksgiving. However, Caleb doesn?t join them as he proclaims he isn?t on good terms with his father. As the story unfolds, the audience is treated to Caleb?s odd, almost schizophrenic, behavior. One moment he?s preaching his belief that all women are whores, the next he seems to be gaining interest in Emma. As Caleb?s story is built, the mayhem begins to ensue and past feelings are at the center of it all.

Ultimately, at the heart of the film lies the relationship between Caleb and Donald, father and son, who?s actions, feelings and knowledge of one another have molded each into the man they are presently. For Emma and Peter, they?re just pawns in Caleb?s chess set. The terms in which Caleb and Donald have left their relationship, added onto the eight years they?ve kept disconnected has shaped Caleb?s ridged persona, from his inconsistency in dealing with women to the relationship with his brother. Unfortunately for Emma, she is pulled straight into Caleb?s life in more ways than one. It is Caleb?s internal struggle on whether or not to divulge the horrible truth he knows about his father to his brother Peter that indirectly causes Caleb to keep a watch on Emma and go to any means necessary to protect Peter from her.

For Caleb, all he can take out of the human behavior is what he has seen firsthand. Having believed to been hurt by both his mother and his father in the past, Caleb both acts out aggressively to assure that Emma stays loyal to Peter while also attempting to break the two apart. In the end, it?s a complicated story of emotion and relationships spun into simple terms.

From an acting standpoint, Adam Scott shines as Caleb. With wide range and the ability to change his mood on a dime, Scott brings the confused and emotional tormented Caleb to life. Though, Snow, Simmons and Frost aren?t to be turned a blind eye at either as all successfully act the depth into their characters with a wide range of acting from vocal to physical.