The lions of the opening shots of "Animal Kingdom," set in a Melbourne suburb, point up the symbolism of a family of the animals under the leadership of the lioness, an evil, non-moral, wicked, grasping mom who loves her children not wisely but too well, to the point where her kisses last just too-long-enough to make an observer uncomfortable. She may even be part grizzly.
Jacki Weaver, as Janine (Smurf) Cody, has brittle blue eyes, bottle-blonde hair and firm convictions that her four sons (actually three sons and a grandson) are really lovely, loyal, misunderstood children, and not the lying, vicious drug dealers and killers they appear to be.
James Frecheville, as Joshua Cody, the grandson and narrator, is taken in by the family after his mother dies of a drug overdose. He joins Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), a sadistic psychopath who takes delight in torturing his not-very-bright brother with vicious comments that make him think he might be gay; Darren (Luke Ford), Pope's victim; and Craig (Sullivan Stapleton), the primary dealer of drugs.
When one of their pals is murdered by a policeman, Pope orchestrates a war of revenge and the stakes are raised rapidly. The police leader is Detective Nathan Leckie (an excellent Guy Pearce), who sees that the 17-year-old Joshua can be rescued, and also can be a good source for testimony. Joshua, whose concerned, rather dull expression is not a cover for a lack of mental acuity, also has a girl friend, basically a child who lives with concerned parents who try to befriend him. Laura Wheelwright is very effective in the role.
The violence escalates, of course, but Australian writer-director David Michod keeps it mostly within bounds of reality, avoiding the cartoonish feel we too often get in movies like this.
Animal Kingdom opens today at the Tivoli
-Joe
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