Film Review: Paddy Considine’s ‘Tyrannosaur’ Packs a Gut-Wrenching Punch

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CHICAGO – She first finds him hiding behind a rack of clothes in her small charity shop. He’s the sort of a battered soul that her Christian instincts naturally desire to protect. The way he crouches on the floor and snarls at her causes him to resemble a threatening animal, but the calming prayer that she recites quickly reduces him to tears. Even before their eyes have had the chance to meet, a vital connection has been made between the two strangers.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

This is an early scene from the Sundance darling, “Tyrannosaur,” a brutally raw but deeply moving drama that marks the directorial debut of chameleon-esque character actor Paddy Considine. He appears to have followed in the footsteps of his fellow countryman, Tim Roth, whose first (and only) feature, 1999’s “The War Zone,” was uncompromisingly grim but also exhilaratingly well acted. It’s clear that both Roth and Considine’s experience in front of the camera has greatly contributed to their ease in directing actors.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Tyrannosaur” in our reviews section.

As studios churn out their expensive awards campaigns for A-list stars, small foreign gems like “Tyrannosaur” nearly always get lost in the shuffle. That’s a real shame, considering moviegoers will be hard-pressed to find two better performances this year than the ones delivered here by Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman, both reprising their roles from Considine’s 2007 short, “Dog Altogether.” As Joseph, the man hiding behind the clothes rack, Mullan proves he is as deftly convincing at portraying the inner demons of an alcoholic psyche as he was in Ken Loach’s 1998 effort, “My Name is Joe,” for which he received the Best Actor prize at Cannes. When the shop owner, Hannah (Colman), gently asks for his name, Joseph replies, “Robert De Niro,” an appropriate choice considering that there is a touch of Travis Bickle in his consuming rage and disgust at the neighbors he despises. He makes Clint Eastwood in “Gran Torino” look like Mr. Rogers, but as the film progresses, Considine’s script gradually unearths the shattered man beneath the ferocious exterior. The only glimmer of friendship to be found on the embittered widower’s block is offered by a young boy. Joseph spends much of his time leering across the street at the boy’s ineffectual mother and her sadistic boyfriend, whose bark is almost certainly worse than his bite. Yet the dog that the boyfriend keeps at his side proves to be the real threat, since the poor creature can only take so much abuse before it finally snaps.

Continue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Tyrannosaur” review.

Peter Mullan stars in Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur.
Photo credit: Strand Releasing