Son of a Gun

Films depicting prison environments and heists tend to consist of recurrent topics and scenes, and the quality depends on how the viewers perceive them - as clichés or as characteristics. Luckily, Son of a Gun does with the latter, and skillful direction, several twists and versatile ending make this an okay film, where one can not always guess how the things go or what happens next, and all this is carried out without ridiculous shifts.

The cast is international, from a Scot till a Swede, plus locals, of course, and this provides the film with additional value (although the events take place in Australia only). Ewan McGregor as Brendan Lynch is certainly the best of them, outperforming the other main character - JR (performed by a local heartthrob Brenton Thwaites whose apparent intention was showing his torso as much as possible :)); the latter's relationship with Tasha (nicely performed by Alice Vikander) is a perfunctory link at times - although the pre-ending rounds it up again...

But anyway, if you like intense heist films with witty solutions, Son of a Gun is definitely for you.

This film tell the story of a young man who is good at chess, getting accepted by a criminal gang inside the prison. They go out to do more jobs after breaking out of prison.

"Son of a Gun" has a big actor in it, and that's why I watched it. I found the plot meandering all the time, and the goals of the actors are poorly explained. I had no idea what the characters want to achieve when they do something, and I only find out after the effect has happened. That's poor story telling and poor engagement. I just didn't care for any of the characters. I found it disappointing and confusing. Fortunately the ending scenes were quite good, saving the film from being a complete disaster.

McGregor is a treasure. Seriously, the man is just captivating and likely a terribly underrated actor to most people. Seeing him as this scoundrel dirtbag was really fun and so different than what I'm used to. Vikander is in a similar situation, playing a scuzzy character feels so out of the norm for her but she does a great job. Performances are solid here but honestly the rest of the movie is less exciting. I enjoy the performances and relationships but I needed more to really latch onto it. Worth watching for fan of the cast but beyond that I can't say there's anything magnetic about the film.

A decent crime movie. Ewan McGregor makes a charismatic heavy-duty criminal with an inevitable intellectual side expressed through chess. The film gives him a chance to show his strengths as an actor. Slightly ropey plot (the chess again) and some A-Team style action scenes with plenty of bullets being sprayed around without apparent casualties. The central romance is pretty unbelievable- where does this attraction come from? - but it was an enjoyable bit of Aussie escapism, and the nasty Australian prison where the action starts came across as more believable than the US counterparts that usually form the backdrop for films like this. One to watch when you want some crime stuff, and enjoy.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Son of a Gun" (2014) is kinda average crime thriller. It shows nothing original, nothing new or anything special, yet i watched the whole movie and wasn't disappointed or bored. The performances are OK, nothing special or worth mentioning. The plot is not bad - "Son of a Gun" starts like a prison drama, but then it goes beyond that, but not in a highly new territory.

"Son of a Gun" is a nice movie for seeing it once, after, you will forget it kinda quickly. Worth mentioning nice soundtrack at the end of the movie, will going to definitely check it out who was the singer.

Overall, "Son of a Gun" is not a bad crime / action / thriller for one viewing. It doesn't show nothing original in craftsmanship of the movie, nor the plot is very original, yet if you like the genre, you can check this one out for yourself - it will do it's job for one boring evening.