By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * * )
Two young Kiwi directors headline this week's releases. In the first, Andrew Dominik profiles one of Australia's nastiest specimens (yep, lower and more poisonous than most of the snakes), as played by Eric Bana, better known for comedy.
Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read's CV
includes words like sociopath, paranoid, underworld legend, longtime prison inmate, not to mention his having written nine books and recorded a couple of CDs. Oh, and did we mention the 19 cases of sudden death which have occurred while he has been in close proximity?
This is not a nice movie. This is a very brutal, nasty, black saga, and you will ask yourself whether the film should have been made at all. Then you will sigh and think something along the lines of, "Perhaps it's better that we know what human nature can descend to," make a coffee, and pick up the newspaper.
Running time: 94 mins
Rental: Now
