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Richard Corliss, Time: EXCELLENT "...a contemplative crime drama with a high startlement quotient.... a downer movie whose skill and kick should make you happy it exists." (Read the full review...) 1,290 words, 08/15/10 Christy Lemire, Associated Press: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Watching this small-time Melbourne crime family unravel under the weight of their overconfidence is riveting... It's such a stripped-down, assured little thriller, you'd never know it was writer/director David Michod's feature debut." (Read the full review...) 667 words, 08/12/10 Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...a dashing Australian crime-and-cops drama..." (Read the full review...) 210 words, 08/13/10 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a pulverizing Aussie crime drama that cuts to the dark heart of the killing machine known as family.... Writer-director David Michôd catches you in a vise and squeezes -- hard." (Read the full review...) 99 words, 08/13/10
Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...mostly terrific... The relative absence of gun battles and car chases helps 'Animal Kingdom' build and sustain a mood of deepening dread." (Read the full review...) 760 words, 08/13/10 Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT (cg) "Most crime stories are content to simply exist, wallowing in their own base violence. But David Michôd's fierce debut takes the genre apart, finding a reason for the madness that propels it." (Read the full review...) 154 words, 08/13/10 Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...a moody, brooding, modern-day film noir that marks the impressive debut of an Australian writer-director who knows how to make a film that is, in his own words, 'dark and violent yet beautiful and poetic at the same time.' " (Read the full review...) 741 words, 08/13/10 Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD (cg) "...as a fable of power, vengeance and betrayal it exerts a quiet, increasingly wicked pull, equivalent to that of the wrinkly but ruthless grandma." (Read the full review...) 404 words, 08/13/10 John Anderson, New York Newsday: OUTSTANDING (cg) "David Michod's startling debut feature... Michod's achievement of low-key, dry-throated apprehension, is about disorientation... As with most of what transpires here, you're never quite sure about 'Animal Kingdom'..." (Read the full review...) 336 words, 09/03/10 David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD "...writer-director David Michôd serves up 'Trainspotting'-like tricks and narration that is beguiling, if rarely apropos. But the actors are something.... good enough to bear the weight of the memorable last line: 'It's a crazy fucking world.' " (Read the full review...) 367 words, 08/02/10 Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Michod depicts a disturbing subculture. He revamps the familiar cops-and-robbers formulas.... J's coming-of-age saga in a crime family is not the generic rise-and-fall of a crook..." (Read the full review...) 603 words, 08/20/10 Michael Atkinson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD "Writer/director David Michôd's strenuous efforts to accumulate tension are often only just that.... [but] seeing a debut filmmaker swing for the fences like this is its own kind of moviehead satisfaction." (Read the full review...) 617 words, 08/11/10 Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD (cg) "...smart, steely if overstylized crime drama... a prizewinner at Sundance in January and a sizeable hit back home in Australia." (Read the full review...) 463 words, 08/13/10 Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD (cg) "...the scale of Michôd's ambitions seems at odds with the meanness of the characters. That's a small flaw in a debut film, and it promises even more powerful work to come." (Read the full review...) 563 words, 08/13/10 Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...engaging but inconsistent... Rookie director David Michôd handles high drama and sudden shootouts like a pro, but whenever his plot runs thin, he gives in to tacky grandiosity." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 08/12/10
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: VERY GOOD (cg) "...meticulously unfurls like an apple carefully peeled in one long ribbon to reveal its rotten core." (Read the full review...) 440 words, 08/27/10 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...razor-sharp... writer/director David Michôd's taut and terrific crime story..." (Read the full review...) 429 words, 08/27/10 Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...combines the shock of sudden plot turns with a slow-burn, inevitable horror that plays up the emotional cost of violence. Certain scenes may stick to you for weeks, and certain roles may give you lasting nightmares..." (Read the full review...) 564 words, 08/27/10 Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: VERY GOOD (cg) "...chilling... a genre picture designed to get under your skin and in your head, a thriller that repulses even as it draws you in." (Read the full review...) 448 words, 09/17/10 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg) "This strong, assured Australian crime tragedy takes the time to dig into characters who would race past us like blurs in a stock thriller, endowing them with a rare depth and emotional truth." (Read the full review...) 472 words, 08/27/10 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Australian writer and director David Michod's fantastic film about the struggles of a low-grade crime family in Melbourne.... The naturalistic style Michod employs adds to the sense of dread." (Read the full review...) 512 words, 09/03/10 Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...a lean, patient crime thriller... There's not a bad performance in 'Animal Kingdom,' and Michôd gives everyone moments to shine." (Read the full review...) 499 words, 08/27/10 Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD (cg) "You probably won't see a better directorial debut this year than David Michôd's 'Animal Kingdom,' the coiled rattlesnake of a family-crime drama..." (Read the full review...) 669 words, 08/20/10 Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Michôd, in his feature debut, wonderfully creates a tribe where hope is lost and life is about getting what you can get, never mind who's lost along the way." (Read the full review...) 376 words, 08/27/10 Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD (cg) "...sometimes stilted and flat, but there's a pool of real tension at its core, and the chilling performance of Jacki Weaver as the vicious granny is indelible." (Read the full review...) 238 words, 08/27/10 Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: EXCELLENT (cg) "...slow but surely gripping..." (Read the full review...) 259 words, 09/23/10 Tom Long, Detroit News: EXCELLENT (cg) "...sinks its dark, hypnotic teeth into you." (Read the full review...) 293 words, 09/03/10 Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...establishes a menacing, unsparing mood that never wavers.... moves with a brisk efficiency - Michôd trusts the viewer and doesn't waste time with unnecessary back story - and the plot twists and turns at brutal speed." (Read the full review...) 650 words, 09/10/10
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD "Writer/director David Michôd's strenuous efforts to accumulate tension are often only just that.... [but] seeing a debut filmmaker swing for the fences like this is its own kind of moviehead satisfaction." (Read the full review...) 617 words, 08/11/10 Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...stark, lacerating debut feature.... kind of a low-rent 'GoodFellas' with no voiceover narrator." (Read the full review...) 599 words, 08/19/10 Noel Murray, AV Club: EXCELLENT (cg) "Sort of like an 'Australian Goodfellas' with less sweep and more grubbiness... Thank goodness 'Animal Kingdom' is so stylish and sharply plotted." (Read the full review...) 359 words, 08/12/10 Nick Schager, Slant: WEAK (cg) "Despite what its style implies, the narrative is an empty shell that pretends to be a coming-of-age drama while celebrating and sympathizing with characters who warrant little more than contempt." (Read the full review...) 631 words, 08/08/10 Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...engaging but inconsistent... Rookie director David Michôd handles high drama and sudden shootouts like a pro, but whenever his plot runs thin, he gives in to tacky grandiosity." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 08/12/10 Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...indicates a resurgence in Australia's independent film scene. Movie fans should keep this gang of tough guys under surveillance." (Read the full review...) 489 words, 09/03/10
Bob Mondello, NPR All Things Considered: EXCELLENT "First-time writer/director David Michod reportedly worked for eight years on his screenplay, deepening its tale of a violently dysfunctional family until its gangster conventions feel as if they're in the service of a modern-day Greek tragedy." (Listen to the full review...) 228 seconds, 08/13/10 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "A phenomenal debut feature... fills a large canvas with startling moments and vivid details..." (Read the full review...) 369 words, 08/13/10 Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...mostly terrific... The relative absence of gun battles and car chases helps 'Animal Kingdom' build and sustain a mood of deepening dread." (Read the full review...) 760 words, 08/13/10 Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...a moody, brooding, modern-day film noir that marks the impressive debut of an Australian writer-director who knows how to make a film that is, in his own words, 'dark and violent yet beautiful and poetic at the same time.' " (Read the full review...) 741 words, 08/13/10 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...a distinctive, ominous and hypnotic work of cinema.... Brilliantly acted and intensely crafted, this movie will alienate some viewers and enthrall others, but it won't soon be forgotten." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 08/13/10
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...a brooding, intimate, clear-eyed look at the precipitous downfall of a family in the Melbourne underworld.... a naturalistic drama rich in psychology and attention to details.... tension fills nearly every scene." (Read the full review...) 914 words, 01/29/10 Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...a moody, brooding, modern-day film noir that marks the impressive debut of an Australian writer-director who knows how to make a film that is, in his own words, 'dark and violent yet beautiful and poetic at the same time.' " (Read the full review...) 741 words, 08/13/10 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: EXCELLENT (cg) "...taut, engaging, extremely well acted..." (Read the full review...) 626 words, 12/29/10 Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...mostly terrific... The relative absence of gun battles and car chases helps 'Animal Kingdom' build and sustain a mood of deepening dread." (Read the full review...) 760 words, 08/13/10 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "A phenomenal debut feature... fills a large canvas with startling moments and vivid details..." (Read the full review...) 369 words, 08/13/10
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