This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

When I first started this crime picture, having heard it was about this crime lord mentoring another young man in prison, I automatically assumed Ewan McGregor was the young man in question- but he's actually the older crime lord. LOL Goes to show he's evolving into more mature roles these days.I'm a big fan of Australian cinema, and really wanted to like this movie. I think I liked the first part of the film, set in prison, the best. I remember thinking- WOW- them Aussie prisons are sure a lot fancier than our American prisons! LOL But then once the film gets out into the free world, and turns into an action movie pitting the young guy against McGregor, it lost me- just becomes another shoot 'em up picture. If you want to see a much better Australian crime picture, I suggest the film, "Little Fish" (with Kate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving & Sam Neill) instead.

This opens with one of the most clichéd scenes you get in cinema - a young pretty boy called Jesse Ryan is in a prison van going to prison and he's surrounded by creatures several species down the evolutionary ladder who are looking at him in a hostile way . Yeah it's clichéd but people enjoy a good cliché now and again especially prison ones and being an Aussie film I was intrigued I might be watching something along the lines of John Hillcoat's 1988 prison nightmare movie GHOSTS OF THE CIVIL DEAD , a film that was criminally underrated and despite being understated had the capacity to shock . SON OF A GUN isn't really in the same league and tries to be a plot driven gritty thriller !!!!! SPOILERS !!!!! This might have succeeded in its aims of being a great plot driven thriller but it often misses the mark where credibility is concerned . Jesse is sent to prison for a relatively minor offence that carries a sentence of six months but apparently he finds himself in a prison full of convicts who are doing life . I'd have thought that like Britain and America Australian prisons would have different categories where people doing relatively short sentences don't mix with lifers . I'm guessing this is because Jesse needs to meet someone who can save him from prison predators who have nothing to lose and that man is Brendan Lynch who has another twenty years to serve . If he protects Jesse from the predators he wants Jesse to come up with a plan to spring him from jail by hi-jacking a copter . Hmmm so someone who can't protect himself in jail might just happen to be a very effective hijacker on the outside ? . It's not like Jesse is all that hardened and violent .Doesn't Brendan have any mates on the outside who might be more reliable ? And what's to stop Jesse changing his mind ? Let's face it he's looking at 25 years in jail if he gets caught but I guess if the characters stopped to think about all this as much as the audience do then the film would abruptly stop The contrived writing is a pity because SON OF A GUN is a rather enjoyable and tense thriller in parts . Ewan McGregor is normally an actor I dislike and seems incapable of giving a convincing performance but here he's something of a revelation as tough villain Brendan Lynch and speaking in his native accent does help . I take it by his spoken idiom Lynch is a Scot ? He's ably supported by a cast I'd had no previous knowledge of in a film while entertaining could have been a bit more intelligent

I watched just because of Ewan McGregor. And it was well worth the 1:49 minutes of my time. If you want to you can probably work out what is going to happen next throughout the whole movie. But, the performances are good and the story is interesting and I just sat back and watched for the sheer movie satisfaction. And, on that score, this movie does not disappoint. The violence is in keeping with the roles portrayed and, dammit, I just loved the way it ended. I will definitely recommend this movie to my wife as there is more than enough to keep her watching - besides the aforementioned McGregor. In this cynical world, it's nice, once in a while, to have trust vindicated.

Didn't expect too much from this film. The plot is decent. It is about a guy who is helped in prison by a notorious guy. That guy later comes out and they team up for a gold heist. Also the lead guy falls in love with a gangster's girl. So all these plots unwind in this decent thriller. Though in some places the movie thinks to attempt too much and falls flat, there are some instances which are away from the commercial movie. Ewan Mcgregor has done a fantastic job as the criminal. Also thumbs up for Alicia Vikander. Brenton Thwaites could have done a better job. Overall not a bad movie to watch. A decent heist thriller which tries too much in some places.