Tyrannosaur (2011)

2 Stars (out of 4)

Fossil

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

The terrific actor Paddy Considine (In America, The Bourne Ultimatum, Submarine, etc.) makes his feature writing and directing debut with Tyrannosaur, and if I may make a crude and unoriginal remark, he should stick to his day job. It's not that Considine has made a bad film -- and he certainly knows how to get strong performances from his actors Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman -- but he doesn't know when to stop telling the story. Mullan plays Joseph, a hard-drinking man with an explosive temper. After a bad outbreak of same, he ducks into a little charity shop, run by the sweet, quiet Hannah (Colman). She tries to help, but he's too angry and defensive. He keeps returning to the shop, however, and becomes Hannah's friend long enough to discover that she's married to the abusive James (Eddie Marsan). Considine lays out his story in little blocks that seem to begin as the characters enter; no one ever seems to be living between the scenes, and nothing springs to life. Each scene eventually gives up all the information that needs to be known, and holds nothing back; there's nothing to entice the audience to enter into the picture. When a frustrated Hannah hurls an object at a picture of Jesus and breaks the glass, Considine cuts to a close up of the broken picture, just in case we didn't quite get it. It's a general lack of trust that filmmakers need to have to engage with an audience. Considine the actor knows about this, but Considine the director hasn't quite grasped it yet.