On the couch

DVD REVIEW

Unknown ****
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella

Animal Kingdom ****
Directed by: David Michôd
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, James Frecheville, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver

Liam Neeson is a member of a small and exclusive group. The big man from Ballymena along with Brendan Gleeson, Cate Blanchette and JK simmons are the four actors I will watch no matter what. Under any circumstances. Even if all four were pegged to star in The Human Centipede 3 I’d still be at the head of the queue, popcorn and sick bag in hand looking forward to whatever dubious delights await.
Unknown is not The Human Centipede. It’s a solid, Alfred Hitchcock-style thriller that could have slipped into obscurity but for its excellent cast and a fairly solid directorial effort.
Neeson stars as Dr Martin Harris, a scientist en route to an important biotech conference in Berlin with his missus, Liz (January Jones).
A bit of a taxi mishap lands the good doctor in a four-day coma and when he wakes up to find he’s been replaced. Not in the “I’ve got a new man and he understands me better than you ever did” sort of way but more in the “you’ve stolen my identity and my wife seems to be going along with it” vein.
Head injury and massive confusion notwithstanding, Doc Harris starts attempts to prove to the various authorities that he is the real deal but his efforts only serve to uncover sinister circumstances surrounding both his ID theft and a momentous announcement due to be made at the conference.
Central to his plan to prove that he’s not a mental case the cops fished out of the river, is the taxi driver who was also involved in his car crash played by the improbably beautiful Diane Kruger.
The two form the sort of uneasy alliance characters in these sorts of movies do when one or both parties has recently been attacked by a trained killer.
While the plot might be about as believable as Elton John’s hair line, the action barrels along with such pace and the cast attacks it with such conviction and vigor that it’s hard not to be pulled along with it.
Neeson is, as always, in fine form. Channelling some, but not too much, of his Taken toughness, he plays the frustrated doc to a tee. Diane Kruger also does well making the best of what could’ve been a bland role, as do January Jones and Aidan Quinn, who plays Doc Harris vs 2.0.
Frank Langella and Bruno Ganz make welcome cameos as a visiting professor and is a former Stasi agent turned private detective respectively, rounding out and excellent line-up.
Not the finest hour of anyone involved, Unknown is far from an embarrassment and will keep you guessing till the end.
Animal Kingdom is not a nature documentary although it does have the same sort of appeal as going to the zoo and pressing your nose against the glass of the most dangerous animal’s enclosure. You know the occupant could do all sorts of violent, nasty things to you but you just can’t help staring.
Stare at any of the members of the Cody family – a pack of Melbourne gangsters with a penchant for murder, drugs and bank robbery – and you’d need a lot more than a glass enclosure and a zookeeper with a cattle prod to keep you safe.
Gritty, unsympathetic and unflinching, David Michôd’s tale of crime and retribution told, mostly, through the eyes of recently orphaned Josh Cody (James Frecheville).
Isolated from the rest of his family by his mother, the 17-year-old “J” is returned to their criminal bosom when she overdoses on heroin. He is quickly brought up to speed on the family business, the anti-social tendancies of his uncle “Pope” (Ben Mendelsohn) and then embroiled in a tit-for-tat murder campaign between the cops and the Codys.
As the tensions heighten, Pope reveals himself to be the scariest dude to bear the title since Benedict dressed up as Emperor Palpatine last Hallowe’en and J begins to question whether his loyalties lie with his new family, the cops or simply himself.
Tense and often terrifying, Animal Kingdom features an array of excellent performances. While Guy Pearce provides a quality turn as a cop and Jacki Weaver is creepily brilliant as the mater familias, it is Mendelsohn and Frecheville who own the screen.
Baring a striking resemblance to a young Gary Oldman, both in looks and in barely controlled crazy, Mendlesohn manages to be more intimidating with every passing scene without ever turing into a catroonish villian. Fencheville, meanwhile, does a fine job of saying nothing VERY LOUDLY and reveals only glimpses of his bottled up  grief, confusion and anger in a mature and controlled performance.
Fascinating, frightening and thrilling to the last, Animal Kingdom isn’t an easy flick to watch but it is a rewarding one. Expect to see many of these faces appearing in bigger budget movies over the next year or two.