''Son of a Gun'' is a 2014

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

film written and directed by

Julius Avery Julius Avery is an Australian screenwriter and film director. Life and works After growing up in Pemberton, Western Australia, Avery attended The Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. He has written and directed several award winning ...

. It stars

Brenton Thwaites Brenton Thwaites (born 10 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series ''Slide'' and later appeared on the soap opera ''Home and Away''. Since moving to the United S ...

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (, ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for ...

, and

Jacek Koman Jacek Koman (born 15 August 1956) is a Polish actor and singer. Early life Koman was born in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, to actors Halina Koman (née Dobrowolska; born 3 January 1923) and Adam Koman (24 December 1922 – 1 December 2005), and ca ...

Plot

A 19-year-old youth, JR (

) is sent to an Australian correctional facility for a minor crime. He finds his cellmate is being sexually abused by another group of prisoners led by a man named Dave. JR also meets the charismatic Brendan Lynch (

), a notorious Scottish

armed robber Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

. Lynch is playing a game of

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

when a passing JR points out an unseen checkmate against Lynch. Later, JR finds his cellmate sharpening a

shiv The word Shiv or shiv may refer to: People with the name * Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a West Indies cricketer nicknamed Shiv Arts, entertainment, and media * Shiv, a fictional location in Magic: The Gathering, see Dominaria * Shiv, a villain in the ...

with the intention of defending himself against Dave. When Dave and his gang move to attack the cellmate, JR prevents the attack by initiating a fight. Lynch scolds JR for meddling, and soon after, JR's cellmate is once again sexually assaulted. His cellmate attempts to commit suicide and he is hospitalized, causing Dave to focus his sexual attacks on JR. When Dave and his gang try to rape JR, Lynch and his men, Sterlo (

Matt Nable Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional rugby league player. After playing in the Winfield Cup Premiership during the 1990s for the Manly-Warringah and ...

) and Merv (

Eddie Baroo Eddie Baroo (born 25 September 1968) is an Australian actor, screenwriter, singer and guitarist. He is the lead singer and frontman of the band Stodgewood. His notable films are '' Red Hill'' (2010), '' Crawlspace'' (2012), and '' The Dry'' (2020 ...

), rescue JR and kill Dave. In exchange for Lynch's protection during JR's sentence, JR agrees to perform tasks for Lynch once he gets out of prison. Upon release six months later, JR meets crime lord Sam (Jacek Koman), with whom Lynch is playing chess, and his nephew Josh (

Tom Budge Thomas Budge (born 15 March 1982) is an Australian actor. Budge was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Early in his acting career, Budge appeared in a number of Australian television shows, including ''Neighbours'', ''Round the Twist'', and ''Shock Jo ...

). JR is given an apartment and a briefcase of Lynch's personal effects, including fake passports, clothes, and a pistol. A young woman named Tasha (

) then arrives at the apartment to give JR cash and a cellphone. Following instructions given, JR visits Private Wilson (

Damon Herriman Damon Herriman is an Australian actor. He is known for his film and television work in Australia and the United States. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Crowe in '' Justified''. In 2019, he portrayed the cult leader and crimina ...

) and illegally purchases high-powered firearms. JR then hijacks a helicopter used for scenic tours, and forces the pilot at gunpoint to fly to prison to extract Lynch and his gang under heavy gunfire. They continue their escape in a car, and while stopped at a convenience store where Merv buys food, the other three discover from a radio broadcast that Merv lied about being incarcerated for GBH but actually raping a Perth schoolgirl. Lynch then brutally beats Merv and expels him from the gang. The three head to Sam's estate, where he recruits Lynch and his men to execute a gold heist at Kalgoorlie, where the expected payout is in the millions. Afterwards, a party occurs at the estate, and JR spots Tasha, whom he follows to the poolside. Before long, Josh decides to harass JR and pushes him into the pool. JR, unable to swim, is rescued by Tasha, and the two leave the party to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Here, Tasha reveals her previous relationship with Sam, and how people who run from him are killed. The next morning, Lynch warns JR to stay focused on the task at hand and not be distracted by Tasha. They then visit the quarry they plan to rob. Lynch tells JR that his role in the heist will be to access the room with the gold and ensure that no quarry employees press the panic button. Lynch then goes and recruits a rally racer named Chris (Nash Edgerton) to be the getaway driver. Back at Sam's estate, the gang plan the heist, and a fight breaks out between JR and Josh. The fight is broken up and Lynch tells JR to go calm down. JR heads to the bar where he sees Tasha, and scares away some men who are harassing her. Angry with his impulsiveness in scaring away the men, given that she does not have proper immigration papers, Tasha tells JR that he was being stupid, but when JR asks her to have coffee, she asks him to meet her near his house. Later that night, JR sneaks out to meet Tasha and goes into the water after her where the two have sex. The next day, the group goes ahead with the heist. The group infiltrates the quarry and inserts JR into the ventilation shaft above the gold room. When the time comes, JR successfully intimidates the gold room employees into not pressing the panic button, and lets the rest of the crew in. Lynch then takes two employees to pour the melted gold into bars, but he decides against the plan and asks Josh to guard the employees while JR watches the gold pouring. This infuriates Josh who ends up shooting an employee in the leg. Lynch breaks Josh's nose with the stock of a shotgun and returns to watching the gold being poured. Police arrive, and the crew walks into the open disguised as employees, but holding the real employees at gunpoint. Then, Lynch releases the hostages and opens fire on the police vehicles and personnel. Chris arrives with the getaway vehicle, but on their way out, Sterlo is shot through the abdomen and begins bleeding heavily. Chris manages to incapacitate the two chasing police vehicles and escape, but Sterlo dies at the end of the chase, instructing Lynch to give his cut of the heist to his wife. Sam betrays Lynch, JR, and Tasha, but the three escape safely and travel to Melbourne where Sam plans to meet his fence. JR and Lynch sabotage the rendezvous, killing Sam's henchman and kidnapping Josh in the process. After interrogating Josh, they find the gold stashed in a storage unit. Lynch and JR kill Sam in his estate. Before JR and Lynch escape for good, Lynch offers him $350,000 to leave. Here it is revealed that when JR realized Lynch would discard him once he had acquired the gold, JR masterminded a plan to steal the gold with Tasha and take half. Lynch has no choice but to accept JR's terms and wait. Before he receives the gold, however, a woman in a laundromat identifies him as the escaped convict, and Lynch is sent back to jail. Later JR sends Lynch a postcard detailing where the gold has been left for him, and a picture of a pregnant Tasha, hinting at an optimistic future.

Cast

as Brendan Lynch *

as Jesse Ryan "JR" White *

as Tasha *

as Sam Lennox *

Matthew Nable Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional rugby league player. After playing in the Winfield Cup Premiership during the 1990s for the Manly-Warringah and S ...

as Sterlo *

as Josh *

Nash Edgerton Nash Edgerton (born 19 January 1973) is an Australian film director, actor and stuntman, and a principal member of the movie-making collective Blue-Tongue Films. Early life Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales and grew up in Dural ...

as Chris *

as Wilson

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in late February 2013 in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

, and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia.

Release

In May 2014,

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

and

DirecTV Cinema DirecTV Cinema (previously known as Direct Ticket, Blockbuster Ticket, Blockbuster Pay-Per-View Movies, and DirecTV Pay-Per-View) is DirecTV's video on demand and pay-per-view platform for film content. Films are released as is done on other pay- ...

acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film had premiered at the CinefestOZ Film Festival on 20 August 2014. The film screened at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

on 17 October 2014. The film opened in Australia on 16 October 2014. and was released on

on 11 December 2014, before being released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

and through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on 16 January 2015.

Reception

''Son of a Gun'' received mixed reviews from critics. It currently has a

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

rating of 62% based on 76 reviews, with an average score of 5.7/10 and the consensus: "Gritty, stylish, and smart, ''Son of a Gun'' serves up plenty of genre thrills and offers a new change of pace from Ewan McGregor." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a 49/100 rating based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Son Of A Gun 2014 films 2014 action thriller films 2014 crime drama films 2014 crime thriller films Australian action thriller films Australian crime thriller films Australian thriller drama films Films directed by Julius Avery English-language Canadian films Films set in Western Australia Films shot in Melbourne Australian independent films 2010s prison films Australian heist films A24 (company) films Australian action adventure films Australian crime drama films 2014 independent films 2014 directorial debut films Films scored by Jed Kurzel 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films Canadian crime thriller films Canadian action adventure films Canadian crime drama films Canadian action thriller films Canadian heist films 2010s American films