Das Gesetz der Familie

First time feature-film director Adam Smith establishes much in the opening minutes of the movie.

Our first image has the camera on the heels of a bullet-fast hare being chased and running for it's life through an endless meadow. Chasing, it seems, is a way of life for the backwoods thieving Cutler clan who we're about to meet.

The local British constabulary is usually doing the pursuing.

Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) squirms under the thumb of Colby, his domineering father, whose never-ending lifestyle of thievery sees no happy end. With a brother already trapped in prison, Chad looks at his young impressionable son and wonders whether he can offer him a different future.

To create a different path he must reassess Colby as a role model, and contemplate the unimaginable… to trespass against his father's wishes and put his own young family's well-being above the clan's. Ensuring an education – something his father denied him – seems to be the only escape route for his children's otherwise ill-fated future.

Colby, played by the indomitable Brendan Gleeson, is an uneducated patriarch whose limited worldview is a creeping cause for concern. His knack for planning successful robberies is now questionable, and he senses growing desperation and worry since it's become apparent his schemes are outdated and flawed. But knowing no other way of life, he hangs on, using whatever resources he can to keep his son, Chad, with him.

Michael Fassbender is an extremely talented actor and makes a powerful presence on the screen. Through him we witness Chad's struggle to be a dutiful son, loving husband and responsible father. With no formal schooling, no ability to read or write, his strongest skill is seen behind the wheel of a car in hot pursuit, he wrestles to make a choice on what kind of future he can offer his young family.

My rating: 76 /100

20 /25 – Overall

11 /15 – Directing

12 /15 – Acting

13 /15 – Cinematography (colour, angle, camera position)

06 /10 – Editing (rhythm, pace)

08 /10 – Script (dialogue, storyline)

06 /10 – Music/score (sound foley, costume, make-up casting)

Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson team up as a father and son criminal team with Gleeson being the brains, while Fassbender doing all the leg work. Gleeson as Colby is so deep in the game that he knows nothing else and refuses anything else, an attitude he expects from his son Chad, played by Fassbender but Chad has enough of a foot outside the game to know that he desperately does not want his young son Tyson to follow down this bloodline, even if Colby sees nothing wrong with the hand Jesus gave him (Colby is a God loving crook).

The film is about Chad being stuck in his outlaw life style. He wants it to be over but he has no options as he can't read or write, which blows my mind that a man in this day and age has no grasp at all of the language he's speaking, but it happens, and he's doing everything he can to make sure his son is educated.

One really cool thing I should mention about the film is the fact that it has some really awesome car chases in it. Not the main purpose of the film but Fassbender does play a getaway driver and his getaway driving was great.

It's a great performance piece coming from all the actors with Fassbender and Gleeson leading the charge. It really has that going for it as it's very small and really sweet and met to hit a nerve with those who know what it's like to be stuck and want better but just seem incapable of doing it.

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Irresponsible parents. A main character has awful father and tries to be a good father for his own kids, but instead he does his best to be the same crap as his own father.

Fassbender is a good actor as is Brendan Gleeson and the story is a good one.

It is hard to understand what they say & i am Scottish!! It's all gypo ( gypsie) talk and anyone from anywhere else other than the UK is going to have a hard time with this - subtitles needed :)

The story is a well trodden one - where the main character wants to change his life but is enmeshed in the culture he was brought up in and it's taking him down.

Some good car chases - even through fields!! Someone said it has no redeeming qualities but ultimately it's not Hollywood and there are no happy endings. A good gritty story with tension and a fair bit of action - food character study - Fassbender does a good job here.

This is a really tough movie to watch. It's not glitter it's not really made to be epic or anything else. It's a movie that stays low, that deals with a lot of strains, especially concerning family issues. But not just one dimensional ones, rather multiple ones. Blood related family, chosen family and so on.

Michael Fassbender and Gleeson are on a rampage acting wise. They really are amazing in this. The story is engaging enough and there is enough to enjoy. But you have to remember this is pretty gloomy. And the characters are not really people you'd necessarily root for in real life. But it's just that some people have to deal with different circumstances ... Not all the characters have to be likable - so just enjoy