A crime story. That’s what is says under the titles on the film’s poster. A crime story indeed, but a dark and twisted study into the nature of family, loyalty and guilt. This Australian thriller marks the feature debut of writer-director David Michôd, and is a rough retelling of the notorious Melbourne family felons the Pettingills, and their alleged involvement in the Walsh Street Police Shootings of 1988. Uncompromising and frequently bleak, it’s a raw scattershot of the underbelly of the land down under, with a growing tension played out against a sparse script.
The story follows Joshua “J” Cody, a 17 year-old who has just witnessed his mother overdosing on heroin, and some Sheila deciding not to deal with the banker on TV. Played by newcomer James Frecheville, J is an enigmatic lead, quiet and reserved, at times a seemingly dim-witted dolt caught up in a den of serious criminals. He moves into his grandmother Smurf’s home, where she slyly rules the roost, planting ideas in her three shady sons’ heads, and uncomfortably long kisses on their lips.
Here J begins to learn his place in the family, observing his uncles Pope, Craig and Darren, and becoming an unwitting pawn in their criminal exploits. Then things take a turn for the worse, with gangland executions and a feud with the police leading to a shoot now, ask questions later policy and deaths on both side. Pope fails to live up to his angelic name, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous, turning J into a liability. Will he stick with his family, veritable strangers who don’t seem to trust him? Or will he talk to the police, reveal all and send his uncles down as the prosecution’s star witness?
The cast is universally excellent, fleshed out and rounded as believable characters in hopeless situations. Amongst the uncles, Ben Mendelsohn (last seen in incest drama Beautiful Kate) is magnetic as Pope, portraying him as brutally dangerous from his entrance at a family barbeque, with a sense that the bonds of family mean nothing to him, rather a sense of honour to his fellow thieves. Guy Pearce also excels as Dectective Leckie, trying his hardest to help J, but not without serving his own agenda.
Jacki Weaver, however, has received the most international attention for the film (Golden Globe and Oscar nods), and is electric as Smurf. Lending her a Lady Macbeth ambition and tragedy, forced to make impossible decisions as her family begins to fall apart, this matriarch is cold and calculating, yet ultimately trying to keep her kids afloat. Her choices dominate the film, and her performance is both subtle and severe.
The film is by no means perfect however, creeping along at a very leaden pace, at times even dragged on by the strength of its actors. But should you be willing to offer the patience required, you will be rewarded by a slow and steady build up of a taut and finely crafted drama.
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