Animal Kingdom

ANIMAL KINGDOM (2010) - Aug. 26, 2010
Good stuff.  Man.  A really well made, well directed, well written, well acted, well scored...  well everything, pretty much.  I loved so much about this movie.  For starters, there's David Michod's assured, pitch-perfect direction, which is visually compelling throughout without being ostentatious or calling attention to itself.  His screenplay is just as good; the characters all feel authentic and definitely become people we really care about.  I also liked that you were never entirely sure where the film was going, and that there were quite a few moments that were genuinely surprising.  There were also some really tense moments peppered throughout.  The film was definitely not super fast-paced, but it was extremely compelling from start to finish.  Then there's the performances, which were all well above average.  Antony Partos' melancoly, memorable score works perfectly.  Basically, I loved this movie.  If it weren't for Inception, I'd say that this was easily the best movie of the year so far.  In fact, I think it may even be better than Inception, but I'll have to see it again.  ****