People are voting emotionally.

Don't Believe the Hype

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This crime thriller is only original in that it is Australian rather than American (or British) and presents a much darker side of the nation than we usually see in the movies. Written and directed by Julius Avery as his first full-length feature, this is an accomplished work centred on the relationship between hardened criminal Brendan Lynch (Scottish Ewan McGregor as the 'Gun') and minor felon 19 year old JR (Australian newcomer Brenton Thwaites as the 'Son'). It seems very unlikely that these two would be incarcerated in the same high security prison but I guess that, if they hadn't been, we'd have had no plot. I confess that I rented the film to see Swedish actress Alicia Vikander but she has a fairly small role as a gangster's moll from Eastern Europe. Even if unoriginal and sporting too many references to monkeys, there is plenty of violence, action and double-crossing in this entertaining rampage with a hot soundtrack.

JR is a young guy on his first prison stretch, about to encounter harder, tougher, seasoned cons. He doesn't back down though, and this saves him short term but long term, drags him into more serious crime. He is mentored by Brendan who has JR play a pivotal role in his own escape. Brendan takes a shine to JR for reasons we never quite understand, but Brendan sporadically asserts his independence at various crucial junctures. McGregor is an odd fit in this role, more convincing as the philosophical mentor than as the hardened man of violence. The bromance between the two never quite reaches Donnie Brasco levels, part of an overall unevenness in tone. There is a brisk pace and a decent twist at the end. In short, worth watching, but basically an average heist movie and not much else.

Review: I quite enjoyed this film because it's full of raw, intense drama but it does take some time to get going and the storyline is a bit sketchy. Its about a prison inmate who becomes friends with the top dog, Ewan McGregor, after accepting his protection from a group of rapist. When JR gets released from prison he has to help Ewan to escape because he helped him against the bullies. Once out, they plan a gold heist whilst dodging the law but JR ends up falling in love and wants to get away from Ewan because of his ruthless tactics. After getting double crossed and a few shootouts, it all starts to become a bit too much for JR so he starts to plan a way out with his new found love. The storyline was quite good because you don't know what's going to happen from one scene to the next. Ewan McGregor played the baddie quite well but I found the guy who played the lead, Brenton Thwaites, to be quite dull and unemotional. The love story was also a bit weak along with there awful planning which was basically, shoot and hope. Anyway, you really don't know who is good and who is bad throughout the film and Ewan's untrustworthy manner made the movie quite intense. In all, it's worth a watch but don't expect anything amazing. Watchable!Round-Up: Ewan McGregor's career has really had its ups and downs. From playing the young Obi- Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars franchise to playing a cop in the awful Mortdecai, he really has come far from his early days in Trainspotting. At 44, he has starred in over 60 movies which isn't bad for someone who started his career in 1994 in Being Human. The director, Julius Avery, has only made a few TV shorts in his career so this is his first major film. He didn't do a bad job with the project because I did feel entertained throughout the film but I wasn't impressed with the leading actor. Brenton Thwaites, who also starred in the Giver, Maleficent, the Signal and Oculus, has a role in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie so I hope that he does a better job with that. At 25, the young Australian born actor hasn't done to bad in his career so far but he lacks screen charisma and emotion.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/action/drama movies about a young prison inmate who becomes friends with a big time thug and ends up planning a gold heist with him. 5/10

When I first started this crime picture, having heard it was about this crime lord mentoring another young man in prison, I automatically assumed Ewan McGregor was the young man in question- but he's actually the older crime lord. LOL Goes to show he's evolving into more mature roles these days.I'm a big fan of Australian cinema, and really wanted to like this movie. I think I liked the first part of the film, set in prison, the best. I remember thinking- WOW- them Aussie prisons are sure a lot fancier than our American prisons! LOL But then once the film gets out into the free world, and turns into an action movie pitting the young guy against McGregor, it lost me- just becomes another shoot 'em up picture. If you want to see a much better Australian crime picture, I suggest the film, "Little Fish" (with Kate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving & Sam Neill) instead.