This year is shaping up to be a cracking year for British film making and in particular low budget films. So far we've had Submarine, The Island and Third Star all proving that with a great story and not very much money you can make a cracking film. And now stepping into the arena is actor Paddy Considine's writing and directing debut Tyrannosaur.
If I was to say it was about an unlikely friendship it immediately conjures up all the wrong sort of cliched images but that is sort of what it is in essence as two very different people help each other escape their lives.
Joseph played by the wonderfully craggy-faced Peter Mullan is a drinker with an explosive verbal and violent temper and a good line in remorse the morning after. He is trying, with intermittant success, to break out of the destructive cycle he's got himself in.
Olivia Colman plays Hannah, a devout Christian and seemingly happy and friendly charity shop volunteer who is being abused verbally and physically by her husband James (Eddie Marsan).
The first thing to say about it, is Olivia Colman is stunningly good in this. She's one of those jobbing actors you feel has just been waiting for a chance to show the breadth of her talent and here it is. If there was any justice she would win lots and lots of awards. (The film has picked up some gongs at film festivals).
Peter Mullan too is superb. Joseph carries an air of threat about him so when he says to Hannah "you aren't safe with me" you know it is true but at the same time his self redemptive qualities make Hannah's trust believable.
There is a great supporting cast from the likes of Sian Breckin who plays the daughter of Joseph's dying friend and Ned Dennehy who plays his alcoholic friend. And I always love Eddie Marsan who is just chillingly abhorrent in this.
Tyrannosaur is far from an easy watch. It has a gritty and brutal realism that is probably more well observed than we'd care to admit from the comfort of our cosy cinema seats. While there are tender moments and glimpses of human kindness it never falls down the cliche trap door but is instead a tense, gripping and utterly moving film.
It's on a limited release and I hope plenty of people go and see it, because it is really very good. I'm going to give it 90%. On IMDb it's got 81% but no Metacritic score yet while on Rotten Tomatoes is has 91% from critics and an audience rating of 89%
'tis a very good film. The whole family has now seen it (despite being 200 miles apart!), both in independent cinemas. For me; I cant quite get over juts how complex the character of "Joseph" was. So much storytelling in such a relatively short film (it felt longer than its 90minutes). A great deal was told via some very subtle film-making. I couldn't help but think that Yorkshire could do with a bit of an "uplifting" film; this coming hard on the heels of "Kill-list"!
Posted by: Simon Pudsey | 10/23/2011 at 08:32 PM