Very disappointing...

A lot of fun.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This crime thriller is only original in that it is Australian rather than American (or British) and presents a much darker side of the nation than we usually see in the movies. Written and directed by Julius Avery as his first full-length feature, this is an accomplished work centred on the relationship between hardened criminal Brendan Lynch (Scottish Ewan McGregor as the 'Gun') and minor felon 19 year old JR (Australian newcomer Brenton Thwaites as the 'Son'). It seems very unlikely that these two would be incarcerated in the same high security prison but I guess that, if they hadn't been, we'd have had no plot. I confess that I rented the film to see Swedish actress Alicia Vikander but she has a fairly small role as a gangster's moll from Eastern Europe. Even if unoriginal and sporting too many references to monkeys, there is plenty of violence, action and double-crossing in this entertaining rampage with a hot soundtrack.

JR (Brenton Thwaites) is serving a short prison sentence and does his best to keep his head down. JR soon draws his attention to prison heavyweight Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor) when the two men are drawn together through their love of chess. Brendan takes it upon himself to look after JR and whilst JR believes that Brendan is doing this out of the goodness of his heart it soon transpires that Brendan has big plans for JR on the outside and needs to get him on side in order to assist in orchestrating a prison breakout for Brendan and his gang. Brendan's plans for JR don't stop there and he's also intent on including Brendan in his plans to rob some gold.The first half of this film is where the picture is at its strongest; it essentially introduces a young man who's wet behind the ears to a seasoned criminal who essentially runs the show and knows the inner workings of the prison system. This sets up an interesting dynamic at the start, but ultimately becomes one that seems to become lost as the film progresses. Whilst I'm prepared to accept that the opening 30 minutes or so are both brutal and engaging and clearly exist to establish the relationship between JR and Lynch there seemed to be far too much time spent on setting up the narrative at the expense of both storytelling and moving the narrative forward.It's actually sad really when the only thing that's really established once the men break out of prison is that one of the inmates is a rapist which results in that inmate getting the obligatory kick-in. It's yet another prison cliché and is a poor plot twist that just adds to the many groan factors that seems to be increasingly on offer here.The problem with this film is that it spends a lot of time setting up its story but then fails to provide an adequate pay-off once the story has been established. There is about 5-10 minutes of time showing the heist and then the rest of the time is spent exploring the aftermath - such as twists like the boss' nephew getting killed and a lame twist at the end involving the switching of briefcases.To be honest I come in to heist films expecting the story to be full of holes but when watching a heist film I do expect them to be at least fun or exciting. Son of a gun delivers none of these things and is far too dull and serious to be truly enjoyable. Anyone expecting an Oceans 11 type film is going to be deeply disappointed.The only thing really saving this forgettable and dull heist film are the performances; McGregor is very good here and this is probably the best I've seen from him in a long time. Thwaites is OK but is clearly playing second fiddle to a lot of the cast. Vikander is also good here even though she only really exists as a clichéd love interest - but she does look as gorgeous as always.Despite a strong first half, Son Of A Gun never recovers and just becomes more boring and more tiresome as it trundles along. In truth it's dull and rather forgettable.

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