The opening scene of this gritty crime thriller movie shows Jay, a teenage boy, at home calmly watching ‘Deal or No Deal’ on the TV as his heroin addicted mother has just O.D. on the couch besides him. His grandmother, who has been estranged from her daughter for years, rushes over to pick him up and welcomes him into the lion’s den of her dysfunctional family of desperate criminals in their suburban Melbourne home. And the story is essentially how Jay gets enmeshed in the lives by default at the very time it is all about to blow up in their faces.
The matriarchal grandmother maintains total control over her three sons; Pope the eldest and the bullying gang leader, Craig the paranoid thug who is always high on the drugs he sells, Darren the youngest, who is taunted for being gay, and whom his mother kisses on the lips just too long to be comfortable. Things have not been going too well for them all recently, and when the corrupt vengeful Armed Robbery Squad kills their fellow gang member Barry, war is declared.
This is a wild gripping thriller, evidently based on a true story, that is about sheer survival in a jungle of an underworld where they are some blurred lines between the cops and the robbers as to who are the real baddies. The movie excels because of the wonderfully rich characters that are superbly played by an excellent Australian cast (the only famous one is Guy Pearce) who all shine, and also because the plot itself never fails to surprise with all its unexpected twists and turns right to the very last scene, and you never ever guess what it coming next
A stunning piece of work that was a joy to discover, and one that even got the attention of the Hollywood Foreign Press who deservedly nominated Jackie Weaver for her performance as the Grandmother. Unmissable.
Labels: 2010, Australian, crime, gay character, thriller
