On Tuesday, April 3rd, Strand Releasing released their heavy and critically acclaimed drama, Tyrannosaur, on DVD. Below is a revised version of my original review along with a review of the special features from the disc. This film made my top 10 of 2011 list so I highly recommend checking it out. So without further ado, here is my DVD review.
Paddy Considine (Cinderella Man) has struck a very emotional chord at various prestigious film festivals around the world with his powerful directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, a move which stars the great Peter Mullen (War Horse), Olivia Colman (Hot Fuzz) and Eddie Marsan (Disappearance of Alice Creed).
Tyrannosaur is about a violent alcoholic widower named Joseph (Mullen), whose life is constantly taking a turn of the worse due to his uncontrollable temper. After meeting Hannah (Coman), an employee at a Christian charity shop, she becomes his source of comfort due to her cheerful and respectable appearance. Though, underneath her skin, she is just as tormented as Joseph because she is on the receiving end of an abusive relationship due to her husband James (Marsan). Just as Hannah is Joseph’s means to rehabilitation, Hannah see Joseph as her source of comfort and escapism.
Considine’s first full-length feature is a slow burning drama that packs an extremely devastating and disturbing punch. His main goal is to make you care for a man who you start off hating, particularly because the movie opens with Joseph kicking his dog to death. The man has already lost everything and has essentially killed his best friend for a pathetic reason. It’s one hell of a way to start off a film. Joseph is completely unpredictable and Peter Mullen is expertly able to channel his volatile nature, making this torn individual a fascinating subject to observe. The constant change in personality and visual internal battle makes it even more difficult for audience members to decide how he should behave, especially with some of the cruel characters that surround and antagonize him.
What is even more surprising about this film is the various levels of Hanna’s character that we see surfacing as time goes on. She is much more complex than we are originally lead to believe and it’s one of the reasons why she is so fascinating. Olivia Coleman’s performance is unnerving, especially coming from someone who sticks to comedies, mostly because of how brutal her relationship is to her asshole husband. Joseph continues to give her a hard time at the charity shop but once he sees her with a black eye for the first time, we see a complete shift in roles as she is now the vulnerable one and somehow Joseph is the strong protector.
What truly amazed and frustrated me the most about this film was how much restraint Considine used with his characters and not letting this film go down the same path as other spiraling dramas. There are point were Joseph could have/should have gone insane because of the various assholes he encounters, but because he is trying to better himself he does nothing but take the heat. I’m referring to his neighbor’s boyfriend and the way he treats her son. The same can be said for Hannah since, in the beginning, she constantly prays for Joseph, taming and co
mforting him with her kind heart and eloquent words, but because she is too afraid to snap back at anyone, she just takes his verbal abuse and her husband’s aggressive behavior for a majority of the picture.
Overall, Tyrannosaur is an excellent and brutal character study that explores the idea of redemption through two people from outwardly different worlds. Both characters are tormented by their existence and unfortunate reality and, through the excellent performances by Peter Mullen and Olivia Colman, we are able to witness how the two evolve as a result of their decisions. Keep an eye out for Paddy in the future, because this guy is going to have an impressive career if he keeps writing and directing features like this.
The Disc:
There is about 12 minutes worth of deleted scenes. A majority of the scenes are meaningful and provide a little bit more clarity about each of the characters. They could have easily been in the movie but were probably deleted either due to time or because it didn’t add either enough value to the film or that the issues brought forth in the scenes were addressed in other ones. Unlike most deleted scenes in indie dramas these scenes are definitely worth watching.
Also on the disc is Dog Altogether, Paddy Considine’s original short which the feature length film is based on. The short is 16 minutes long and each scene in it is featured in a slightly different way in the full length version. Besides the time difference and a lot more scenes, the only real difference is that we only get a basic understanding of Joseph and know next to nothing about Hannah. All we are able ot really understand is that Joseph is an alcoholic with anger problems and when he makes the mistake of beating his dog he ends up losing the only friend he has. While the short isn’t bad I love the full length a lot more.
The other features on the disc include audio commentary with the director and producer of the film along with the original theatrical trailer and other Strand Releasing Trailers.
Rating: A slow burning, heavy handed and brutal triumph for a feature debut (7.8/10)
DVD Rating: 6/10
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