A profoundly disturbing movie, and an important one.
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
Reviews for Chopper
Though handsomely photographed and designed, the film doesn't really say much about Chopper or the cult of criminal celebrity. But it hardly matters, because Bana's performance is nothing short of electrifying.
Dominik's perspective makes it a lot less incriminating to watch the film.
With his metal teeth and deformed satyr-like ears, Chopper is a spectacular lowlife clown.
Chopper is the rare film in which you can root for a heinous, real-life criminal and not feel like a tool for doing it.
Bana is nothing short of brilliant: Even when the movie Chopper meanders, Bana's Chopper Read is utterly mesmerizing.
The charismatic and explosive performance of Eric Bana holds together the conventionally plotted film.
There's not nearly enough actual intrigue or suspense to maintain a feature film.
The film is not much more than a loose compilation of events, and so, we never get a sense of a larger story.
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