Friday, June 17, 2011
CRIME DOES NOT PAY
Today's film was David Michôd's
A NYTImes Critics' Pick.
A family devoted to crime, a matriarch ala Ma Barker, three sons. A nephew comes to live in the house and becomes involved with the goings on there.
It is his story that we see played out.
The nephew, 17, is played by the skillful James Frecheville, Guy Pierce is a detective who tries to pull the young man away from the family.
This is a psychological thriller. The young man sways from one side to the other and only he knows what his conclusions are.
One of the ideas that motivate the action is that crime does not pay. There is always something that is wrong, that is found out. Or even if it is not found out, manages to screw up the lives of the criminals as well as their schemes.
Like Canada and some other countries, Australia produces some fine films but few make it into US distribution. This one is good enough to have been embraced by critics and gotten a decent run here.
I enjoyed it very much and was on the edge of my seat much of the time.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
