23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bana's unbelievable physical transformation!!, September 4, 2002
There are plenty of reviews here that deal with the content and storyline of "Chopper". But I want to discuss Bana's amazing physical transformation to play this part.
Not since Robert DeNiro's chameleon-like transformation into Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" has an actor so thoroughly entrenched himself in the physicality of a role. Bana made his early career as a stand-up comic Down Under, but look at what he has done here! Watch "Black Hawk Down" to catch the "normal-looking" Bana, then watch "Chopper", his earlier film, to see the lengths he went to to gain some 80 pounds of fat/thickness to play this hulk (no 2003 movie pun intended -- okay, maybe it is intended) of a thug named Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, one of Australia's most conspicuously (in)famous criminals.
At the start of the movie, and early in the filming of the movie, Bana/Chopper is a physically imposing yet fit figure. As the years pack on the pounds, Bana gained the girth to mirror Chopper's. A truly amazing and brave acting choice!
Now read other reviews if you want opinions on the film (I liked it, by the way). But somebody tell DeNiro that Bana is close on his tail.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intense, September 30, 2004
"Chopper" is one of the more interesting films I have seen in the last year or two. An Australian picture, the movie purports to tell the story of one of that country's most notorious criminals. Films dealing with criminals or the crime underworld are far from rare, of course, as one need only to look to "The Godfather," "Goodfellas," or practically anything made by Quentin Tarentino for proof of this assertion. "Chopper" differs from these films in several significant ways. Arguably the most important distinction involves how we should perceive criminals. American films, perhaps tapping our age-old love of the outlaw, tend to glamorize the ugly brutality of criminal pathology. The Godfather films don't do this as much as Tarentino's pictures do, to be sure, but it's always there in some form or another. "Chopper" can't help but deal with the very public side of Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, considering he published a series of smash bestsellers detailing his sordid adventures, but a close examination of the film reveals a very subtle portrait decrying a thug and the society that idolizes them.
When we first meet Chopper Read (Eric Bana), he's serving a sentence in prison. Just as in American penitentiaries, Australian lock-ups have gangs, and Chopper is on the bad side of a particularly loathsome brute. What to do in such a situation? Why, walk up to the chap in the commons and stab him repeatedly in the throat with a sharp object! Moreover, when the guy thrashes on the floor in a spreading pool of blood, look concerned, ask if he's o.k., and offer him a cigarette. Obviously, the authorities don't take kindly to inmates carving up other inmates, so they haul Chopper and a couple of his pals in for questioning. Someone must take the fall for the crime, which gives Chopper's pal Jimmy Loughnan (Simon Lyndon) an absolute fit. This guy comes up with a brilliant plan: lure Read into a personal "conference" and murder him with a knife. By doing this dastardly deed, Jimmy can pin the rap on Chopper and skate out from under a conspiracy charge. And he tries to do just that in one of the film's most chilling scenes. Jimmy stabs Chopper repeatedly to no avail. Instead of screaming, clutching his gut, or going after his friend Chopper merely looks at Jimmy with a hurt expression on his face. The betrayal of a pal doing such a nasty bit of work hurts Read more than the knife wounds.
Or does it? We can never be absolutely sure what Chopper thinks because he's an incurable psychopath. After taking the fall for the prison killing, Read serves more time but eventually gets a coveted transfer to a less harsh facility when he has a fellow inmate hack his ears off. Exactly. He hacks his ears off. If that won't get you out of the stir, I don't know what will. Anyway, Chopper eventually returns to his life on the streets. By this time, he has his teeth capped with metal and looks even more frightening. He promptly strikes up a relationship with Tanya (Kate Beahan), a harridan of some repute, and just as promptly beats her and her mother senseless after she rebuffs him. He even pays a visit to his old pal Jimmy who, it should go without saying, is less than enthusiastic about a reunion. Read doesn't seem to do much except visit with his father, terrorize people, and look for a way to put some money in his pocket. He's obviously not the type to work a normal job, not with his explosively violent temperament. Here's a guy who goes to a dealer's house, shoots the guy in the legs, and then drives him to a hospital. Not your average corporate type.
At the same time, Mark "Chopper" Read is a charming rogue, a doughty yet loveable goon covered in tattoos and scars sporting a smile sure to win over the hardest hearts. You can't help but like the guy considering his sense of humor, his aw shucks attitude, and his concern for friends and foes alike. What other criminal would drive one of their victims to the hospital? Or express such remorse over the harm he causes his girlfriend? What a guy! Isn't Chopper a great chap! Sure, he kills, robs, maims, and brutalizes people, but his winning personality makes everything acceptable in the end. That would be the Quentin Tarentino take on Mark Read. Fortunately, director Andrew Dominik doesn't take that position. He does play up a sort of running black humor about the proceedings, but we never come to feel anything but revulsion for this character. A wistful grin and a sudden remorse over a violent crime never fully absolve Read of our scorn. The final shot of the film, where we see Chopper once again in a prison cell yakking it up with a few guards about his latest television interview, underscores our initial impressions of the big fellah. He's exactly where he needs to be no matter how charismatic and charming his personality. Thank goodness for prisons!
Eric Bana should have won some awards for his portrayal of this depraved goon. He disappears into the character, a fact confirmed after watching the brief interviews with the real Chopper included on the DVD. Also included in the extras are deleted scenes and an audio commentary with director Dominik and Chopper himself. A violent film not suitable for the squeamish or small children, "Chopper" nonetheless is an intriguing effort that acknowledges the tendency of society to idolize criminals while ultimately consigning that foolish notion to the ash heap.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpeice, November 20, 2001
Australian comedian Eric Bana is Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his best-selling autobiography, FROM THE INSIDE, while serving a murder sentence in prison. Beginning in the blue-washed light of a maximum security Melbourne prison, Chopper establishes his dominance with the impulsive knifing of a fellow prisoner.
This is the start of this amazing movie. Eric Bana IS Chopper in this unbeilivable performance. Unlike Oliver Stones Natural Born Killers where Stones makes the killers way over the top and seem like everything is fun, happy, and cool this is not the case with Chopper. Chopper is a human just like you and me, he's just mentally unstable. In the end it's hard to like Chopper because of his violent actions but in the same sense is hard to hate him because of his personility and deep down caring attitude.
Don't miss this great movie and DVD (great features, commentary by the real Chopper Read, and a funny interview with him) anytime soon.
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