Trespass Against Us (2016) Reviews

• A small movie with great actors

  wxgirl552016-09-11

  First time feature-film director Adam Smith establishes much in the opening minutes of the movie. Our first image has the camera on the heels of a bullet-fast hare being chased and running for it's life through an endless meadow. Chasing, it seems, is a way of life for the backwoods thieving Cutler clan who we're about to meet. The local British constabulary is usually doing the pursuing. Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) squirms under the thumb of Colby, his domineering father, whose never-ending lifestyle of thievery sees no happy end. With a brother already trapped in prison, Chad looks at his young impressionable son and wonders whether he can offer him a different future. To create a different path he must reassess Colby as a role model, and contemplate the unimaginable… to trespass against his father's wishes and put his own young family's well-being above the clan's. Ensuring an education – something his father denied him – seems to be the only escape route for his children's otherwise ill-fated future. Colby, played by the indomitable Brendan Gleeson, is an uneducated patriarch whose limited worldview is a creeping cause for concern. His knack for planning successful robberies is now questionable, and he senses growing desperation and worry since it's become apparent his schemes are outdated and flawed. But knowing no other way of life, he hangs on, using whatever resources he can to keep his son, Chad, with him. Michael Fassbender is an extremely talented actor and makes a powerful presence on the screen. Through him we witness Chad's struggle to be a dutiful son, loving husband and responsible father. With no formal schooling, no ability to read or write, his strongest skill is seen behind the wheel of a car in hot pursuit, he wrestles to make a choice on what kind of future he can offer his young family. My rating: 76 /100 20 /25 – Overall 11 /15 – Directing 12 /15 – Acting 13 /15 – Cinematography (colour, angle, camera position) 06 /10 – Editing (rhythm, pace) 08 /10 – Script (dialogue, storyline) 06 /10 – Music/score (sound foley, costume, make-up casting)

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• Very good - but you might need subtitles

  alanjamesbuchan2017-01-22

  Fassbender is a good actor as is Brendan Gleeson and the story is a good one. It is hard to understand what they say & i am Scottish!! It's all gypo ( gypsie) talk and anyone from anywhere else other than the UK is going to have a hard time with this - subtitles needed :) The story is a well trodden one - where the main character wants to change his life but is enmeshed in the culture he was brought up in and it's taking him down. Some good car chases - even through fields!! Someone said it has no redeeming qualities but ultimately it's not Hollywood and there are no happy endings. A good gritty story with tension and a fair bit of action - food character study - Fassbender does a good job here.

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• Another raw Fassbender performance

  KarenAM2016-12-26

  Another astonishing and raw performance from Michael Fassbander, who plays an uneducated father of the family desperately trying to unchain himself from his father's robber-gang. The brutal moment when you realize you are in under influence of something evil or bad, but you're incapable of changing things and you get mad at the whole world. But the fault is on you, because you weren't strong enough to free yourself out of the chains in the first place. You have the choice to change it now, you have obligations towards your family and you have to choose what is best for them now, because you've lost your chance to help yourself.

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• Where the zider apples grow

  dunfincin2017-03-01

  I saw the negative reviews before watching this film and decided that with Gleeson and Fassbender in starring roles, it couldn't be all that bad. Well, it is and then some. In England there are three types of travelling people - the original Rom gypsies (very rare now), Irish travellers who in English are often called "Tinkers" and a third group of basically itinerant criminals called "Pikeys".They travel the highways and byways of merrie England camping illegally on public or private land, terrorising the local population, taking over the nearby pubs and generally causing trouble whilst they carry on with their more traditional pursuits of begging and stealing.Eventually they move on or are moved on leaving piles of rotting garbage (you could clearly see this towards the end of the film) for someone else to clear up. That community is what this film is about. I cannot think of a less edifying subject for a film.Are we supposed to empathise with this group of nomadic miscreants perhaps seeing something noble in their total disregard for law and order and other peoples wellbeing? Are they the modern hunter-gatherers of society turning their backs on a corrupt system and preferring to live a life free from other people's rules like working for a living and paying taxes? I neither know nor care.A totally misconceived and egotistical dog's breakfast of a film giving the audience nothing for their money.Perhaps the director once bought a sprig of heather from a woman in a straw hat and colourful clothing - " It will bring you luck dearie"- and thought it would be a good idea to make a film about these lovely people. The accent which gave people a lot of trouble is what we call in England "West Country" - basically the counties of Devon and Cornwall. A broad west country accent is difficult to understand even for the English so I don't know how they would expect the rest of the world to cope with it- utter stupidity. Incidentally Gleeson's accent was authentic most of the time save for the occasional trip back to Dublin but Fassbender absolutely nailed it. You might say that this is what you would expect from an actor with his talents but for a man from Heidelberg it was a truly remarkable feat. When I started this review I intended to give it a 2 but I have decided to give it 3 because the sun is shining today.

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• A Gypsy Criminal Family

  horitaj2016-10-23

  "Trespass Against Us" is a British crime film directed by Adam Smith, and is about Chad, a husband and father of two who's trying to separate himself from his father, Colby who constantly drags him in his life of crime. I saw the film at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival this year and I must say it was a very entertaining film to watch. The film follows the conventional crime family story of son wanting to leave but father holding him back. Despite the film following a conventional narrative it was never the less a good watch. Michael Fassbender gives an excellent performance as Chad, and Brendan Gleeson is as up to par as the father, Colby. But I must say the kids in the film were excellent, they gave very impressive performances. Despite me enjoying the film for it's characters, and acting, there were plenty of flaws I had with the movie. In the very beginning of the film we find out that Chad's brother was locked up in prison so the family decides to drive a car hazardously through the street which says "Free Bryan", Chad's brother. After that the brother is never mentioned of again and just felt like an idea that was tossed around and eventually forgotten of. During the "action" parts of the film the cinematography gets very shaky and it's very hard to see what's happening. There's also a character in the film whose name is Gordon who was just annoying, I didn't get his character other than he's the "crazy" guy. Finally, the last twenty or so minutes of the film felt very loose and didn't have any sense of what it was doing, I felt that the movie really lost its steam and was just trying to keep on pushing up the tracks. Overall I really enjoyed "Trespass Against Us", it follows a very conventional story that we've seen many times before, but ultimately is saved by its performances by the entire cast. 7.5 out of 10 / 3 out of 4

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