CHOPPER
[Film stats: Earned $236185 domestically. Got 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 89% on Flixster.]
Hello, all!
This is the film that made me a fan of Eric Bana. It’s a quirky and eccentric film, based on one of Australia’s most notorious criminals, Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read, and it’s a magnetic performance by the lead. It’s a shame that Bana’s appeal has kind of fizzled lately, but it isn’t as if he didn’t have a chance to break out after being cast in BLACK HAWK DOWN, Ang Lee’s underwhelming HULK, TROY [stealing the show from Brad Pitt, in my opinion], and the Abrams STAR TREK reboot, but then following those films up with some real duds like DEADFALL and DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
But enough about the downward spiral of Bana’s career. This spiel is about the film that kicked it into gear, and it’s an absolute diamond in the rough of a film.
The plot, according to the IMDB, is as follows: “Chopper tells the intense story of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, ‘From the Inside,’ upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.”
Although it’s based on an autobiography, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction in the film. In part, this is a smart play by the director, and it’s also partly a function of the fact that “Chopper” may well be mostly full of it, not just reading his own headlines but also partly manufacturing them.
In case that doesn’t make sense and you’d rather just check out a trailer for the film, I’ve embedded one below:
One of the critics quoted in the trailer said that the film is “tough, ferocious, and funny,” and while it’s a bit strange to describe a film about a notorious sociopath in those ways, they’re spot-on. Moreover, despite a few scenes that are anything but pleasant, the film actually manages to be fun. If it weren’t for Bana’s terrific performance, it likely would have been a much more bland, procedural kind of biopic, hence the bloated discussion of Bana’s rise and fall above. Whether you liked him in his later projects or not, this one really is worth a watch.
Enjoy!
P.S. For those of you who give this one a shot and enjoy it, you may also want to check out ROMPER STOMPER, THE GENTLEMEN, and BRONSON. In one way or another, they’re similar flicks that I suspect you’ll also like.
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - BARTON FINK; Day 2 - CENTURION; Day 3 - THE BABADOOK; Day 4 - RISEN]
[Film stats: Earned $236185 domestically. Got 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 89% on Flixster.]
Hello, all!
This is the film that made me a fan of Eric Bana. It’s a quirky and eccentric film, based on one of Australia’s most notorious criminals, Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read, and it’s a magnetic performance by the lead. It’s a shame that Bana’s appeal has kind of fizzled lately, but it isn’t as if he didn’t have a chance to break out after being cast in BLACK HAWK DOWN, Ang Lee’s underwhelming HULK, TROY [stealing the show from Brad Pitt, in my opinion], and the Abrams STAR TREK reboot, but then following those films up with some real duds like DEADFALL and DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
But enough about the downward spiral of Bana’s career. This spiel is about the film that kicked it into gear, and it’s an absolute diamond in the rough of a film.
The plot, according to the IMDB, is as follows: “Chopper tells the intense story of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, ‘From the Inside,’ upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.”
Although it’s based on an autobiography, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction in the film. In part, this is a smart play by the director, and it’s also partly a function of the fact that “Chopper” may well be mostly full of it, not just reading his own headlines but also partly manufacturing them.
In case that doesn’t make sense and you’d rather just check out a trailer for the film, I’ve embedded one below:
One of the critics quoted in the trailer said that the film is “tough, ferocious, and funny,” and while it’s a bit strange to describe a film about a notorious sociopath in those ways, they’re spot-on. Moreover, despite a few scenes that are anything but pleasant, the film actually manages to be fun. If it weren’t for Bana’s terrific performance, it likely would have been a much more bland, procedural kind of biopic, hence the bloated discussion of Bana’s rise and fall above. Whether you liked him in his later projects or not, this one really is worth a watch.
Enjoy!
P.S. For those of you who give this one a shot and enjoy it, you may also want to check out ROMPER STOMPER, THE GENTLEMEN, and BRONSON. In one way or another, they’re similar flicks that I suspect you’ll also like.
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - BARTON FINK; Day 2 - CENTURION; Day 3 - THE BABADOOK; Day 4 - RISEN]
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