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Chopper

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Chopper (2001)

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Reviews Counted:64

Fresh:45

Rotten:19

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: Eric Bana's performance as the charming but twisted Chopper is the highlight of this disturbing portrait about Australia's notorious author/criminal.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Australian comedian Eric Bana is Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his best-selling autobiography, FROM THE INSIDE, while serving a murder sentence in prison. Beginning in the... Australian comedian Eric Bana is Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his best-selling autobiography, FROM THE INSIDE, while serving a murder sentence in prison. Beginning in the blue-washed light of a maximum security Melbourne prison, Chopper establishes his dominance with the impulsive knifing of a fellow prisoner. Vaccillating between violence and regret, Chopper apologizes to his victim, but his good mate Jimmy (Simon Lyndon) later retaliates against Chopper in an excruciating contract stabbing, rife with sexual tension. Finally released from prison, the heavily-tattooed Chopper has lost the better part of both of his ears, as well as the ability to make any distinction between his own made-up stories and reality. At a nightclub with his prostitute girlfriend, Tanya (Kate Beahan), he runs into Neville (Vince Colosimo), an old victim who limps from the attack but glitters in drug-funded gold. In his paranoia, Chopper connects rumors of a new contract on his life to Neville, Tanya, and his old mate Jimmy, to whom he pays a visit and discovers a man rotting from drug abuse. Alternately wickedly funny and grotesque, CHOPPER gives no easy answer to the question of Chopper Read's motives, but his method is clear, "Ya bash people for no reason, just to get a name for yourself." [More]

Starring: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Dan Wyllie, David Field

Starring: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Dan Wyllie, David Field, Bill Young, Vince Colosmo, Kenny Graham, Kate Beahan

Director: Andrew Dominik

Director: Andrew Dominik
Screenwriter: Andrew Dominik
Producer: Michele Bennett
Studio: First Look

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Chopper

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

"tough, provocative and challenging."

Full Review Source: Critical Eye | comment Comment
07/16/01
Mark Freeman
Mark Freeman
Critical Eye

The film is really much ado about very little because it takes no stand and gives little insight into the Chopper's psyche , all while too carefully catering to his machinated media image.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
07/12/01
Paula Nechak
Paula Nechak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

You wonder why anyone even bothered.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
06/25/01
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Bana is electrifying in this plum role.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
06/15/01
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Chopper plays like a nonfuturistic A Clockwork Orange.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
06/15/01
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle

It's a great style, it's a fabulous performance, but it never quite finds what it's searching for.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
06/11/01
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post

Chopper is never less than fascinating.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
06/08/01
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Marks an impressive debut for Dominik and a revelation of Bana's talent.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
06/08/01
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

You cannot look away from him. The performance is so . . . strange.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/01/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The ways Read twists and embellishes the truth become progressively less interesting.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
05/31/01
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune

Dominik's presentation of events is original and thought-provoking.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
05/26/01
Nikki Tranter
Nikki Tranter
PopMatters

Engaging even as it is appalling.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
05/25/01
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After about an hour, you realize that Chopper is sordid and bloody with no purpose.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
05/24/01
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Bana radiates the sort of warped charisma that explains how an ultraviolent convict could capture the public's imagination.

comment Comment
05/24/01
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Like a lot of video-game violence, much of Chopper is meant to be perversely funny. But it's a different kind of perversely funny.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/24/01
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

[Read's] unpredictability lends Chopper considerable suspense.

comment Comment
05/21/01
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

Did you ever feel like you should take a shower after watching a film?

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
05/21/01
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

U.S. moviegoers probably won't understand what all the hubbub is about.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/18/01
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Bana's gift -- and his triumph -- is that he makes us somehow care about this magnetic monster, without ever letting us feel as if we've figured him out.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/17/01
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

fatally unforgettable tale of a man who makes you ashamed to be human.

Full Review Source: Bay Area Reporter | comment Comment
05/17/01
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
Bay Area Reporter
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

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