It deserves to be. But there is reason for caution. Chopper has a certain hideous charisma but none of the appeal of, say, Bryan Brown in Two Hands . And viewers should be warned that parts of the film are nauseatingly violent. Chopper is only partly a prison drama, but it s tougher than any local product I can remember in this troubling genre John Hillcoat s Ghosts of the Civil Dead , Stephen Wallace s Stir .
Chopper is grim in a weird, almost spooky way.
Strong stomachs are called for. He makes the hero a huge, lethal slob a tattooed figure of mountainous vulgarity and prodigious energy, boiling with anger, resentment and suspicion. After disposing of his rivals in jail and surviving an attempt on his life, he gets himself transferred from Pentridge by having his ears cut off by an obliging fellow prisoner. All this prepares him for his literary career. So far he has published nine books.