Tyrannosaur

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Reza
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Re: Tyrannosaur

Post by Reza »

.......and here I'm just about to start watching this film as I thought it had received raves. I'm curious so I'll watch it.
bizarre
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Re: Tyrannosaur

Post by bizarre »

Spoilers -

I do however like the film for solving the problem of "why would such an outwardly sensible woman stay with such a terrible man" in an interesting way in Olivia Colman's final dialogue scene. The murder, the gap between its happening and its reveal and the gap between Colman's facade both pre- and post-revelation lends some interesting shades to the Hannah character and her relationship with her husband. However I get the feeling this is either a) accidental or b) entirely to Colman's credit.

The ellipsis at the end and the decision to reveal, in narrated flashback, the young boy's mauling by the dog, pretty much sums up everything that is hackneyed, over-the-top and wrong with this film.
mayukh
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Re: Tyrannosaur

Post by mayukh »

I'm in general agreement with bizarre on this one – one of those feeble attempts to invoke "realism" with unrelenting grimness, yet done so in a way that seems more a cheap reconstruction rather than a genuine reflection of human suffering. Colman's role was poorly conceived but I found her presence endlessly fascinating. I greatly admire her work in this film.
Big Magilla
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Re: Tyrannosaur

Post by Big Magilla »

I don't think she's getting much support aside from Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells who has no influence over any award group.
bizarre
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Tyrannosaur

Post by bizarre »

Spoilers

This was absolutely vile. A collection of miserablist neo-kitchen sink clichés that make Precious look subtle. Actually, on paper, this looks like a parody - angry alcoholic Scottish man has a rage problem after the death of his diabetic wife (who lost both legs and eyes in the end), kills his dog in a fit of rage, strikes up an unlikely friendship with a) an alcoholic, chronically abused, infertile (thanks to her dastardly husband shoving glass up her vagina?!) yet baby-longing devoutly Christian op-shop owner and b) a young artistically inclined boy with a do-nothing council-house mother and who is regularly attacked by a pitbull at the behest of his hooligan dogfighter stepfather - but of course it is far too earnestly serious to succeed as camp. Considine is an actor I have enjoyed before but his way with a camera is purely functional and barely even that, and the entire picture is graded into that awful washed-out 'blue steel' palette that is shorthand for 'real and gritty' in crime dramas and most modern vérité. The script is almost painfully on-the-nose with regards to its themes (Colman's character throwing a vase at a portrait of Jesus is a particularly egregious example of this) and the dialogue turns to dust in these actors' mouths. Stabs at comic relief (the Tommy character in particular), social relevance (the light touch on anti-Muslim paranoia) and feel-good bathos (the montage in the funeral scene?!) fall embarrassingly flat.

If Mullan is starring in a film you can gear up your pen for writing 'indulgent' in the critique. Of course that is the case here - his character kills his dog first thing in the film, and a dog plays a large part elsewhere in the plot, so perhaps it is appropriate that his performance is so doglike, always either barking or whining. Colman fares much better, both through her own work and with the script (her character is given an interesting twist on the 'noble victim' type at the end) but her scenes are written and directed as diagrammes of reactions to the point where you can only admire the power and rawness of her emotional clarity rather than any actorly innovation. Marsan is a cartoon.

Colman is getting some passionate supporters - I can see why, but I would disagree that this 'misery porn' exercise is worth sitting through just for her. It is possible that she could win LAFCA. Any thoughts on this film?
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