Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.
Joseph is a man plagued by a violence and rage who is driving him to self destruction. As he falls further into turmoil, Joseph scours the landscape in search of a single grain of redemption that might restore hope to his fractured life.
Director:
Paddy Considine
Stars:
Peter Mullan,
Olivia Colman,
Paul Popplewell
Encompassed by violent street gangs, neglectful parents, bullying teachers and a dearth of positive role models, a studious but emotionally abandoned kid turns thug.
Two twelve-year-old boys, Romeo and Gavin, undergo an extraordinary test of character and friendship when Morell, a naive but eccentric and dangerous stranger, comes between them. Morell ... See full summary »
Director:
Shane Meadows
Stars:
Martin Arrowsmith,
Dave Blant,
Darren Campbell
Rock roadie, Le Donk, has lived, loved and learned. Along the way, he's lost a classy girlfriend but gained a sidekick, Scorz-Ayz-Ee. He sets out to make Scorz a star with a little help from the Artic Monkeys.
Director:
Shane Meadows
Stars:
Paddy Considine,
Dean Palinczuk,
Olivia Colman
15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.
A successful black woman discovers that her birth mother is an underprivileged white woman, but the woman denies it. As emotions run high, everyone's secrets are exposed.
Director:
Mike Leigh
Stars:
Timothy Spall,
Brenda Blethyn,
Phyllis Logan
Christmas 1988. Soulmates, woody and Lol find themselves in exile from each other and the gang. Trying to understand the definition 'growing up', Shaun begins a course at College, that quickly takes the wrong turn.
Stars:
Andrew Ellis,
Andrew Shim,
Chanel Cresswell
The story of Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals into turmoil, a chance at redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. Their relationship develops to reveal that Hannah is hiding a secret of her own with devastating consequences to both of their lives.Written by
Anonymous
In the early bar scene where Joseph is sitting alone talking to himself, the voice off screen saying, "Are you all right, Joseph?" belongs to director Paddy Considine, who said he was so taken in by Peter Mullan's performance that the question was totally spontaneous. See more »
Goofs
The dog would have been put down after it had disfigured the boy. See more »
Quotes
Hannah:
God loves you. You're God's child.
Joseph:
God ain't my fucking daddy, my daddy was a cunt. He knew he was a cunt. God still thinks he's God. No-one's told him otherwise.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Preceding the end credits is the note: For Pauline See more »
Tyrannosaur, on first viewing, immediately brings to mind another directorial debut by an acclaimed actor, namely Gary Oldman's Nil By Mouth. The crisis of masculinity, the victimisation of women in domestic settings, incremental brutalisation of children, and penchant for violence among certain kinds of weak-willed men are all overlapping themes. The graphic representation of these themes in visual terms is also common to both films. And finally, both contain outstanding performances from their cast.
But writer/director Paddy Considine brings his own stamp to this project in his bold portrayal of an odd couple fleetingly driven together in extreme circumstances. Joseph is a self-loathing, hard-drinking loner, haunted by past failures, particularly in regard to his wife, whom he hit. He tries to make up for his character failings with displays of loyalty to a dying friend. It smacks of too little too late.
Hannah is a devout Christian who works in a Charity Shop during the day, and enjoys a large glass of rioja at night. Her faith is built on less stable foundations than Joseph assumes when they first meet. His attack on her character may well prove to be the last abusive act of his life, such is the scale of regret it will bring in the long-term.
Peter Mullan as Joseph is convincingly lost, playing a character removed by only a few degrees from the father he portrays in Neds. Olivia Colman is simply immense as Hannah, a brittle front easily broached by Joseph's bile, unleashing a fear and unhinged reaction that even the volatile Joseph struggles to comprehend. In between there is a touching vulnerability and unnerving humanity. Eddie Marsan, as the depraved James, once again proves why he is fast becoming Britain's preeminent character actor.
This is character-driven social realist film-making to a certain extent, though there is a prominent three-act structure, exhibited more than in most films of the type, including a quite shocking but satisfying 'surprise' at the end. Tyrannosaur forces you to think about how we treat each other, and about the lives unraveling around us that we choose to turn a blind eye to. A mature debut from Considine, who sets a very high bar for himself.
27 of 33 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Tyrannosaur, on first viewing, immediately brings to mind another directorial debut by an acclaimed actor, namely Gary Oldman's Nil By Mouth. The crisis of masculinity, the victimisation of women in domestic settings, incremental brutalisation of children, and penchant for violence among certain kinds of weak-willed men are all overlapping themes. The graphic representation of these themes in visual terms is also common to both films. And finally, both contain outstanding performances from their cast.
But writer/director Paddy Considine brings his own stamp to this project in his bold portrayal of an odd couple fleetingly driven together in extreme circumstances. Joseph is a self-loathing, hard-drinking loner, haunted by past failures, particularly in regard to his wife, whom he hit. He tries to make up for his character failings with displays of loyalty to a dying friend. It smacks of too little too late.
Hannah is a devout Christian who works in a Charity Shop during the day, and enjoys a large glass of rioja at night. Her faith is built on less stable foundations than Joseph assumes when they first meet. His attack on her character may well prove to be the last abusive act of his life, such is the scale of regret it will bring in the long-term.
Peter Mullan as Joseph is convincingly lost, playing a character removed by only a few degrees from the father he portrays in Neds. Olivia Colman is simply immense as Hannah, a brittle front easily broached by Joseph's bile, unleashing a fear and unhinged reaction that even the volatile Joseph struggles to comprehend. In between there is a touching vulnerability and unnerving humanity. Eddie Marsan, as the depraved James, once again proves why he is fast becoming Britain's preeminent character actor.
This is character-driven social realist film-making to a certain extent, though there is a prominent three-act structure, exhibited more than in most films of the type, including a quite shocking but satisfying 'surprise' at the end. Tyrannosaur forces you to think about how we treat each other, and about the lives unraveling around us that we choose to turn a blind eye to. A mature debut from Considine, who sets a very high bar for himself.