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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.

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