Director: Julius Avery
Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 109 minutes
Haven’t heard of Son Of A Gun director Julius Avery? That’s not surprising when you consider his back catalogue; as the writer and director of six short films, this thriller is his first foray into feature-length film, and he really impresses.
Set in Australia, Brenton Thwaites features as JR, a young, naive man sent to prison for six months as punishment for a minor crime. Once inside he tries to stay out of the way, not making eye contact if he can help it. When he’s picked out as a weak and easy target by a group of thugs, it looks like the rest of JR’s sentence is going to be a painful one, until fellow prison ring-leader Brendan Lynch (McGregor) and his cronies pick-off the rival group, one by one, leaving JR in his debt. Once released, JR is drawn back into a life of crime by helping Brendan escape from prison. Think they’d be interested in living much quieter lives? Think again. The pair are then asked to perform a heist at a gold mine, but not everything is as it seems.
Focusing on themes of deception, betrayal, loyalty and love, Avery reels you in with the fly-on-the-wall style cinematography and gritty, violent narrative. JR is obviously not only young in his looks but his knowledge of the world…until his reveals his true character. McGregor as Brendan is a brute, everything you’d expect from a gang leader and greedy criminal mastermind. The pair together come across as a great father-son duo, until you’re shown what’s really going on behind the scenes. Alicia Vikander features as Tasha, the love interest of JR and a source of jealousy for Brendan. While not attracted to her, Brendan sees Tasha as a distraction, capable of sucking JR in only to land him in prison again.
While the characters are interesting enough, Avery’s style of shooting and choice of music are also noteworthy. The film’s beginning set in a prison gives the audience a realistic view of what it’s like to be the ‘newbie’ inside, even down to the squat-and-cough security search. Filled with a variety of characters and threats, you can feel JR’s isolation through his facial expressions – he’s uncomfortable and lonely and we know it. Once back in the outside world, Avery changes styles, chopping and changing scenes, set at a much faster pace to reflect the activities JR and Brendan get themselves into. Contrasting this, there are two emotional turning points placed in the middle and at the end of the film, soundtracked by a melodic indie track, showing JR’s growth as a person through the help of Tasha.
After a slow start Son Of A Gun is a gripping cat-and-mouse thriller, bound to please any action nut out there.
Son Of A Gun is out on Blu-ray and DVD on 8th June.
