Son of a Gun

This is a 'heist' movie with a fairly standard story and the usual range of characters and events.

One little difference is that it is set in Australia.

But one large difference is the pacing of the movie. It never gets bogged down and it never goes OTT - so we don't see people flying through the air, in slow motion, shooting two guns at once.

The acting is of a level where it well represents the sort of randomness found in such characters as well as offering up a hero for the audience to follow.

If you want a fun action movie with enough of a story to follow and which moves along and keeps the interest up - this one is for you, my son.

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.

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.

For a crime or heist movie, Son of a Gun benefits from polished editing, good direction and commendable performance by Ewan McCGregor. However, the plot is not that engaging, the simplistic development could also be found in TV series or action games. To its credit, the film delivers plenty of content, even though some of them are stereotypical prodigy-versus-mentor or damsel-in-distress premise.

JR (Brenton Thwaites) is a new inmate in a prison, where he meets Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor), a veteran conman who offers him protection. Soon JR find himself as Brendan's henchman, unsatisfied of only doing his bidding, the two eventually clash. Thwaites performs well, he's decent as the young lead, but his acting range is a bit limited on some scenes. McGregor is the star here, stealing any scenes with flair and occasionally blurted rage.

Their relationship is a strange one, JR subtly seeks a father or teacher figure which he finds in Brandon, although ultimately he realizes that their interest might not align. It works in short term, but the material doesn't provide much back and forth exchange, what twists it has in store are pretty foreseeable. JR also encounters Tasha (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful girl in despair. There's little surprise this romantic subplot, Tasha's back story and also the tiny bit where she might just be a honey trap are not fully developed.

Its plot isn't ambitious nor does it possess high level of intricacy on its heist. A lot of other similar movies, or even TV series, have delivered the same concept. The use of Australia as setting helps, but it boils down to the familiar prison break or robbery stints. Luckily, the pacing is sharp, it pushes forward with conviction and the action parts are decent as well.

Son of a Gun feels like a fast version of crime miniseries of television show, it may not be groundbreaking but it is still a decent watch for action fans.

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.