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Animal Kingdom
Sony Pictures Classics  /  Release Date: August 13, 2010  /  Official Site  /  Read Brad's "B-" Review
Brad's Thoughts
Sony Pictures Classics picked up Animal Kingdom after it won the Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema - Dramatic) at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and while it may be more likely this will be a film for the Independent Spirit Awards, I won't count out David Michod's feature until I've had a chance to see it.
Cast & Director
Animal Kingdom is directed by David Michôd and the MPAA has rated it R for violence, drug content and pervasive language.

The cast includes Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton, Anthony Hayes, Dan Wyllie, James Frecheville, Jacki Weaver and Mirrah Foulkes.

Synopsis
Welcome to the jungle known as the Melbourne underworld. Animal Kingdom uses this edgy locale to unspool a gripping tale of survival and revenge.

Pope Cody, an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade detectives, is in hiding, surrounded by his roughneck friends and family. Soon, Pope’s nephew, Joshua "J" Cody, arrives and moves in with his hitherto-estranged relatives. When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, "J" finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.

Wielding a formidable cinematic lexicon, writer/director David Michôd shows complete command of every frame as he shifts between simmering intensity and gut-wrenching drama. There isn't a false note in the film as it follows through on the tantalizing promise displayed in his short films and unleashes a fierce new voice in Australian cinema.

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