Son of A Gun

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Son of A Gun
 (2014)

A Review by Grant Kanigan

Directed by: Julius Avery
Written by: Julius Avery, John Collee
Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor
Rating: R
Release Date: December 11th, 2014
A masked Brenton Thwaites and Ewan McGregor in Son of a Gun
© 2014 - Koch Media
     There's something about Australia. I've never been there, but I imagine it's not all just surfing and Fosters. There seems to be a strong, dark current running underneath the outback. In the tradition of violent, cynical thrillers like the Mad Max trilogy, Rover, Sanctum, Animal Kingdom or Rabbit Proof Fence, Australian cinema seems to be exorcising it's demons, (internationally, at least), on the silver screen. The latest blood soaked export from Australia is Julius Avery's Son of A Gun. As far as brutality and carnage goes, Son of a Gun is a doozy.
     Son of a Gun follows JR, (Brenton Thwaites), who arrives, at the age of 19, in a high security Australian prison. Realizing that he quickly needs to make a move to ascertain safety, JR quickly makes nice with infamous bank robber Brendan. Promising to help Brendan once JR gets out after serving his six months, Brendan quickly, brutally and coldly disposes of JR's enemies in one of the most blunt and shocking prison fight sequences I have ever seen. Once JR has made his first move, there's no going back; as he breaks Brendan out of prison, meets Brendan's criminal colleagues and finds himself in deep trouble JR soon realizes he must formulate an endgame if he wants to make it out of Brendan's world alive. 
     The criminal underworld that takes place in this alternate Australia is brilliantly menacing. As Brendan, McGregor displays award worthy work as a hardened, brutal criminal who lives by his word and is driven by hubris. McGregor's character is a complete 180° from his work in the Australian helmed Moulin Rouge, and from most of his past roles. McGregor is the true highlight of an already visceral thrill ride. Thwaites, as RJ, also displays convincing range. Doe eyed and innocent in this year's The Giver, here he plays a punkish rapscallion, ready to take on the world, or, in the event of his death, take it with him. It's the duality between the psyches of both actors and their roles that drive the film.
     While the characterization is the driving factor of Son of A Gun, it's finest asset is it's action sequences. Like the virtuoso action scenes in Michael Mann's seminal Heat with an Australian twist, some of the action and chase sequences in Son of a Gun are absolutely masterful. A robbery at an open pit goldmine that turns into a violent car chase through backwoods Australian slums, is violent, taut, visceral and thrilling. It lasts for a good twenty or so minutes, but every minute is spent on the edge of anxiety, wondering if not just the criminals, but anyone will make it out alive.
      All in all, Son of A Gun continues the tradition of cruel, cynical Australian films who's ultimate thesis is the saving grace of altruism in Australian society. To borrow an old turn of phrase, films like Son of a Gun show that life in Australia is always darkest before the dawn; in Son of a Gun, it's pitch black. 

Grant's Rating: 4/5 Stars

Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites in Son of a Gun: "The Draw"

   

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