Chopper

Chopper is the nickname of Mark Brandon Read, a notorious real life criminal whose crimes were chronicled in a best selling book by him. Eric Bana plays Read to perfection. An early scene brings to mind the Michael Madsen ear slicing portion of Reservoir Dogs. The camera stays on Bana for 90 percent of the hour and a half running time; and not a minute is wasted. The style is similar to the equally vicious Bronson, which also deals with an infamous Australian criminal. Both are must see movies for anyone who is a fan a the crime genre. The sardonic humor is the sort typically associated with films from Down Under. Just to watch Bana chew up the screen with the look of an actual sociopath, is worth the price of the DVD rental. The New York Times of April 13, 2013 has a profile of Mark Brandon Read which is an excellent companion to this adaptation. Do not miss Chopper.

CHOPPER (3+ outta 5 stars) Nifty little character study of a notorious Australian criminal... well, notorious in his own mind, at least. The jury is still out on how much of the autobiographical details of the life of "Chopper" read are real and how much is fake... but it does make a compelling story either way. Eric Bana gives a great performance in the lead... nothing else I've ever seen him in prepared me for how good he really is. The character he plays is nasty, repellent, scary, ill-tempered... and still full of charisma. After a violent stint in prison (his motto appears to be "do unto others before they do it unto you") Chopper is sent back out into society. With no other skills besides his knowledge of crime, Chopper offers himself to the local police as a special undercover agent. They, of course, want nothing to do with his boneheaded scheme but he pretends that they do anyway. Inflicting pain (on himself *and* others) seems to be what he is best at and he gets plenty of opportunities to show his stuff. Amusing though it may be at times, the movie is not a glorification of violence... the ferocity and suddenness of it keeps the audience constantly on edge.

Chopper is a great film. Andrew Dominik, the director, did a splendid job. The film seems so realistic, the brutality, the dialogues, the places, the characters, it's all so well adapted to the kind of movie that Chopper is. The acting is really amazing, especially from Eric Bana, who plays Chopper. This man has the talent to make every single feeling of his character visible, and realistic. The violence, while being pretty graphic and brutal, isn't gratuitous or exaggerated (except for some scenes with too much blood letting). The violence "hits" the viewer, just like he was feeling the pain, it's very well reproduced. The character of Chopper is interesting, as a man who's trying to be a real tough criminal, but still has some feelings...it's Natural Born Killers with nuances...With funny moments, great acting, nicely-written scenario and one very interesting character, Chopper delivers that: Dark humor, attaching characters, great scenario, violence (for the people who like it), and it's a very nice movie. Eric Bana has a lot of future in acting...and Andrew Dominik is a great director that should definitely continue in this business. Chopper is very enjoyable. I give it 8/10.

Mark Brandon Read, nicknamed "Chopper", was a notorious criminal in Australia who after spending most of his life in prison, went on publishing books with anecdotes of those years becoming a successful writer of Best-Sellers. While he has been accused of exaggerating things about his life in his books, the stories presented still are realistic and shocking, and give insight about the mind of this complex and often-troubled man, regardless if if they are real or fiction. "Chopper", the movie, is not based exactly on Read's life, but in the series of anecdotes he wrote in his first books.

Eric Bana plays Chopper and gives one of his best performances to date, capturing the very essence of the living legend Chopper has become now. It is not a surprise that this film gave him recognition out of Australia and turned him into an international star. but even when the movie is centered around Chopper, Simon Lyndon and Kate Beahan's performances shine in their roles as Chopper's cell mate Jimmy and Chopper's girlfriend Tanya respectively.

Like Read's books, the movie is not exactly a biography, but a collection of tales surrounding the now-mythical figure of "Chopper", presented in a way that perfectly mixes strange surrealism with harsh realism. The gritty semi-documentary look the film has enhances this feeling as well as the cold way the violence is presented. Like the real Chopper, the film walks the fine line between fact and fiction, and that's what makes it very appealing and interesting.

It could be said that Director Andrew Dominik painted an accurate portrait of "Chopper" the legend, not of the real person; and that's probably what the real Chopper may prefer. Domink plays with the moods, going from serious drama to awkwardly funny scenes in this character study that presents us a charming yet dangerous man, who probably has been through more than what we would like to do, yet less than what he would likes us to believe.

The film is very intense and "tough", and very good at it; Bana is perfect as Chopper and shows great promise as an actor. His characterization makes very difficult to don't like this common man with a very uncommon life. Director Dominik makes a straight-to-the-face film that stays true to Chopper's persona (fictional or not), and does it without being pretentious or manipulative. It basically lets Chopper's charisma speak for itself playing with the audience's fascination with crime and violence.

If as flaw was to be found, it would be that it never tries to go beyond its goal or push too much the envelope. It is not much of a flaw, as the results are still brilliant, but leaves one wondering at how far could it had gone considering the talent of those involved. Anyways, Eric Bana and Andrew Dominik are set to a bright future and this film is a brilliant start for these two new talents. 7/10

I want to start by saying that I hate gangster movies. I thoroughly dislike being asked to identify with murderers and criminals and to treat organised criminals as "anti-heroes". With this in mind I was quite surprised to find that I really enjoyed "Chopper".

As previous reviewers have said, this is essentially a character study rather than a story. The reason it works so well is that Mark Brandon Read is a compelling character beautifully impersonated by Eric Bana. Anyone who's ever seen an interview with Read himself can appreciate what a close impersonation Bana achieves; his sudden guffawing laugh and light-hearted way of talking about his really unpleasant deeds being perfectly copied. The movie manages to do what I'm sure Read himself has achieved in real life - it tricks you into liking him before revealing that his hair-trigger temper and propensity for paranoia and violence make him a dangerous person to be around. The thing that keeps you watching is Chopper's jovial nature but also his unpredictability. In circumstances where other gangsters would have gone on a killing spree, Chopper just shrugs and takes it in his stride. But likewise, in throughly innocuous circumstances, his paranoia can kick in at any moment and send him on a violent outburst.