Skip to main content

Quickie Review - Tyrannosaur

I recently was turned onto a movie starring Paddy Considine called In America.  The movie turned out to be terrific and I noticed when checking Netflix that he had his directorial debut featured.  I knew nothing about it, but decided to throw it on top of me queue.  The movie is called Tyrannosaur and stars familiar face Peter Mullan (Trainspotting, Boy A) and Olivia Colman as Joseph and Hanna.  Joseph is an angry middle aged drunk who spends his days sipping pints and basically being angry.  Hanna is well to do, but works in a second hand clothing store, praying for others and taking sips when nobody is looking.

I will warn anyone interested, the movie starts off with drunken Joseph, kicking his dog, then carrying him home only to bury him the next morning.  We immediately realize that this man lives a very troubled life.  Throughout the film, his inability to harness his anger takes its toll on everyone around him, but in reality, it's only he is who is getting beaten.  Life had beaten him and taken every ounce of happiness out of him.  One day, in a fit of rage, he beats some kids and "hides" in the thrift shop.  Hanna, prays for him and he returns the next day.  His inability to see any good in the world and her desperation to find good is basis for the entire film.

As the movie goes on, we find out things about both of them and realize they are scarred forever.  When Joseph sees Hanna with bruises on her face, he feels this need to fight the demons she's facing, but can't muster the energy, because he's consumed with fighting his own. Hanna's husband is a horrible person and we soon realize that Joseph can't handle it anymore.  He takes Hanna in, but this is where the entire film changes.  I will not spoil it, because it's like nothing you'd ever suspect.

Tyrannosaur is powerful, gritty and every other cliche word to describe something that is so dark and volatile, we wince while watching what is before us.  Do not get me wrong, this is not a low budget, violent drama, but an exquisitely acted exploration into two shattered lives.  It hurts to watch some scenes and that pain carries throughout.  Joseph, by his own admission, is a bad person.  Hanna, is desperately trying to be a good person, a person of God.  Their struggles are so real, so true, that we feel empathy for them, even when Joseph is killing a second dog.  There are reasons for everything that happens within this film.  There are no wasted scenes or dialogue to fill a time frame.  The only way to describe this movie accurately is to paraphrase a line by Joseph in the movie, when he says, "life is like a tsunami, it starts with a little wave and builds and there is nothing you can do to stop it."  If you ask me, it's a lot truer than life being like a box of chocolates.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

11 Rules of Life - Bill Gates?

I read this on Facebook this morning.  A friend had posted it and said that every child should have to receive this. I of course read it and started to think.  I immediately wondered who really wrote this, as I rarely see things like this attributed to the proper person.  I immediately found it was written by Conservative Charles J. Sykes when he wrote a book about how America is dumbing down our youth.  I read it twice and started to wonder how true it was.  Below is a link to the actual picture I saw. So let's look at each of the rules and analyze them. Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it! - Life is not fair in that we are not all afforded the same opportunities based on race, creed, color, socio-economic background, but in general, those who are afforded the same opportunities to succeed are very often rewarded for their individual efforts.  Sure there may be underlying circumstances, but hard work is proven to pay more often than not and those who strive for succ

White Privilege

This was a post I wrote on Facebook after surprisingly not seeing any moaning about the Documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, titled White People Dayyum! I just scrolled my timeline and not a single white person got their feelings hurt by White People. I unfortunately haven't seen it, but the number of fake accounts that popped up on twitter, tells me it was a damn good show. Here's the thing. If someone of color aka non-white says "White Privilege," are you offended? If you said yes, then you are exhibiting white privilege. It has nothing to do with how hard you work or study, how you stayed out of trouble, because here's the thing, that is entirely the point. Somewhere out there, there are 100 Black, Spanish, Native American, Arab, Asian, who worked and studied as hard as you and never got in trouble, but they don't have what you "earned" or achieved. Stop looking at the one person you know who isn't white that achieved as your benchmark. Loo

Quickie Review - Finding Vivian Maier

While I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially the first 15-20 minutes, I was a little bothered by the way the film played out. The interviews with the clearly disturbed brother, sister and the mother, who obviously, was in for a cut, didn't need to be in the film. Then the woman who suggested abuse, yet seemed to have her life defined by Maier, as she tried to muster every ounce of emotion and fake guilt. Her friend, more than happy to be party of the charade. People who talk about abuse for the first time, usually don't do so on camera. The fact these scenes were so prominent, shows that they felt wronged that they were not rewarded. Maloof on the other hand, seems to disappear from the documentary during this part, almost hiding away from the fact, he went from complete praise, to even making money off of her, to destroying her personal legacy. He almost mentions the family of boys taking care of her rent, as an afterthought. Her burial spot, never shown, yet a video of her