Alex

Paddy Considine--better known to audiences for such memorable roles as one of the two wisecracking cops in “Hot Fuzz” and the guy who got sniped in “The Bourne Ultimatum”--has taken a strong career turn behind the camera with his new drama “Tyrannosaur.” 

In interviews, Considine has mentioned his intent to craft “a love story about the people you walk past in the street.”  In this regard, the film is a success.  Peter Mullan’s angry drunkard and Olivia Colman’s virtuous shop-worker are very real characters whose backstories are only hinted at.  They are the sort that you do ‘walk by’, and Considine keeps that perspective in mind as he only hints at their past experiences instead of recounting Dickensian back-stories. “Tyrannosaur” is no docudrama, but its photography and blocking are excellent, and the performances match the film’s true-to-life tone.

“Tyrannosaur” might have been perfectly at home as a straightforward character drama with the performances to back it up--Mullan and Colman’s are nigh-on perfect, and the film’s two-dimensional villain is given meat by the nefarious talents of Eddie Marsan--but an over-explored conflict of faith in God versus a pragmatic take on life channels the current of the story into much broader themes than the script is prepared to deal with.  This unavoidably turns the film’s real-life cast of characters into archetypes.  Mullan and Colman cease to play ‘Joseph’ and ‘Hannah’ and are forced to play to their respective ‘types’, spokespeople for particular views on life: one religious, the other nihilistic. 

This is not to say that a film depicting an archetypal battle of ideologies is in any way ‘bad’, but to me, “Tyrannosaur” hangs in an uncomfortable balance between performance-driven character drama and an anti-morality fable. It is tempting to touch on weighty issues of faith and nihilism, since they are themes that all human beings already have a stake in, but without a very carefully constructed script, these themes cease to become attributes of characters and instead take center-stage while the leads become mouthpieces for or against a particular philosophy. 

Once these themes are introduced, Considine’s script leans too heavily on understated character drama to bring resolution, but by then the stakes are too universal and all that can be done to satisfy them is to work some populist comments into the dialogue to suggest that maybe not all Christians are hypocritical, which dodges the issue altogether. 

“Tyrannosaur” is top-notch Sundance fare--superb acting, photography and blocking--that unnecessarily burdens itself with huge themes that need only have been hinted at rather than brought so brazenly to the fore.

Kamaria

How does the saying go, Alex? I hear what you’re saying and you’re completely wrong. 

Like you, I found the lead performances by Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman surprisingly powerful and effective. Considine’s filmmaking impressed me as well in how close he brings you into horrors endured and caused by these characters.  Yet, as the movie progressed, I found a deeper and surprising story between Hannah and Joseph.  I never thought Considine turned his characters into types, rather I felt he pushed them through an engaging transformation. 

Also, I really did not see the same argument of faith and nihilism playing out in “Tyrannosaur.”  From my seat, I saw two broken characters each hanging on the best way they can until they found some healing in each other.

True Considine does want us to believe Joseph and Hannah represent opposite outlooks on life.  Joseph relies on government aid and spends his time getting drunk in local pubs, some of which expel him for his violent behavior.  Hannah operates a religious thrift shop in his neighborhood, but lives in neatly arranged suburb.  In early conversations, Hannah and Joseph disagree about the role God and faith play in their lives.  Hannah expresses her faith quite openly and Joseph pounces on her piety.  However, what Joseph comes to understand is that Hannah’s faith is a constant struggle that she often ends up losing.

In Hannah, Considine offers a poignant picture of religious belief.  She follows all the rules: lives a life of service, stays with her husband despite his relentless abuse, and extends a loving hand to those that mock her. However, with all her good deeds she still feels God’s love is absent from her life.

Instead of seeing two types in a failed anti-morality tale, I saw two vividly drawn expressions of brokenness.  Joseph’s explosive anger is humanized by the pained self-loathing that Mullan is able to convey after each misdeed.  Hannah’s faith life is incredibly tragic considering the abuse and doubt she battles each day.

Joseph and Hannah spark different impulses in the each other.  Hannah gives Joseph’s violent temper a focus. Instead of lashing out at everyone and anyone, he makes his targets those who prey on the weak.  Knowing Joseph, Hannah becomes more defiant and stands up for herself.  Considine intensifies the emotional stakes of the film through Hannah’s story and the film becomes difficult to watch, but impossible to look away from.

I found a kinship between “Tyrannosaur” and Steve McQueen’s “Shame” in how both films vividly bring out the inner turmoil of their characters and bring audiences to relate to people they would perhaps avoid in everyday life.  Each film pairs a male imploding from some mysterious trauma with a more emotionally accessible, but just as volatile, female character. I think Joseph and Hannah end the film with more hope than Michael Fassbender’s Brandon in “Shame." 

I hope Considine keeps directing because he has a fine talent for creating drama around ordinary characters with great capacity for self destruction, but also love.