Palace Electric Canberra
From 2 November 2023
MA15+, 96 minutes
Bring Him to Me is a mob genre film, a merciless look at the equally merciless underworld.
Following a violent robbery, the quietly spoken and mostly polite getaway driver is under orders from his crime boss to drive a young and unsuspecting member of the gang to what is probably his death. Money from the robbery has gone missing and the young man is suspected of taking it.
‘Bring him to me’ is the repeated order given to the driver by the flat and persistent mob leader’s voice over the mobile phone.
The driver, whose back story gradually unfolds, faces questions of conscience as he is aware of the young man’s probably fate. The situation becomes more and more morally muddied as the story reaches its denouement.
With a series of violent on screen actions and fast car chases, the movie is big on action and nasty ruthless characters.
The victim of the crime in question we soon learn (Sam Neill) is far from pure as the driven snow and neither is his son, and so our sympathies are never so much with them as with the rather likeable and hapless driver (Barry Pepper).
The moral imperative is at the forefront of this film – you do need to look behind the blood and gore for it – and Barry Pepper’s understated performance is perfect for the role. Despite everything, and without revealing the big spoilers, we do end up thinking well of him, and loathing the rest of the characters who have nothing to recommend them.
As an aside I must say that I found Rachel Griffiths’ rather odd hybrid American accent to be somewhat irritating though the characterisation of the immoral crime boss sat eerily well with her.
This is a film for action junkies rather than crime fans looking for finesse and nuance.
- Directed by Luke Sparke
- Cast – Barry Pepper, Jamie Costa, Liam McIntyre & Zac Garred with Rachel Griffiths and Sam Neill
Thank you to Nedco for the opportunity to preview.