Son of a Gun

Locked up in a WA prison, JR (Brenton Thwaites) looks next in line for a whole lot of prison rape until his chess skills bring him to the attention of notorious armed robber Brendan (Ewan McGregor). Now part of the gang, he’s tasked with getting in touch with Brendan’s organised crime contacts once he gets out and helping put together an audacious breakout plan for the rest of the crew. But the world of organised crime isn’t one that works on trust, and JR soon finds himself in way over his head – especially once he draws the attention of a local crime bosses’ stripper trophy girlfriend (Alicia Vikander).
If the story of a young guy in over his head in a world of crime sounds a bit like Animal Kingdom, you’re not wrong: second time around though the holes in this kind of story are a lot more obvious, thanks in part to a fairly lifeless performance from Thwaites. When your central character is this passive it’s hard not to find your attention drifting, and McGregor’s Brendan ends up being a little too erratically drawn as the film struggles to balance out the threat he’s meant to symbolise with the fact he’s the only guy who seems halfway good at his job. There’s still a lot of stuff here that works: the early prison scenes are full of authentic menace, while the film’s central heist (stealing gold from a mine) is well thought-out and staged, with some gripping action sequences.
With some stronger character work this could have been a classic; as it stands, it’s a little too uneven to whole-heartedly praise.