Son of a Gun

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.

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.

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.

This film gave me shivers and not just because of the intense first act which sees us locked in a prison with some pretty ruthless men but because I regained hope for a flailing Australian film industry. I feel obliged to support my industry so often I go to the cinema reluctantly and am thoroughly disappointed by the lack of respect for the audience the filmmakers have, they believe first and foremost they must get their unworthy stories on screen and then I'm left out of pocket and dissatisfied. This time was a different story, Son of a Gun has given us a MOVIE!!! Finally, an actual movie which I could disengage and go on a ride with the characters. This isn't trying to be a groundbreaking heist film and yet it is groundbreaking for Australia, it is so well made, performances are stellar and the score is epic. We have space for our kitchen sink dramas but we also should make way for these type of films and also judge it as an Australian film. That's why I gave it 10 out of 10 because this film should be judged like all other Australian films are judged and not judged harshly because it has a big star and feels like a bigger story. I highly recommend this film.