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Chopper
Just watched Chopper (2001), which was not what I was expecting but worth seeing. When I heard it was about a likeable serial killer I expected something like Man Bites Dog, which it certainly is not. While one is attracted to the charisma of the latter's protagonist at times, he is much more callous and consistently sadistic, whereas Bana in Chopper plays a killer with a more ambivalent relationship to his own brutality (though overall it's an inferior film).
What interests me most about this film is the way it creates a character who remains incredibly violent without being remorseless. 'Are you all right, mate?' is the constant refrain after seemingly cold-blooded violence, and while of course it's a humorously ludicrous question given the circumstances, it also offers an interesting view of the way a man with a furiously violent temper relates to his own outbursts.
Bana's acting is really quite good, generally somewhere between confused and conniving, and he does the about-to-snap killer in a less repetitive way than other similar films. There is certainly suspense and uncertainty, but not in an annoying or exploitative way. The film touches obliquely on the media's relation to violence at the end, certainly not as heavy-handedly as e.g. Natural Born Killers does.
It's not as dark as Henry, and often funny, maybe along the lines of Blood Simple or other Coen fare. But my mind is prone to such comparisons. A few pointless ones: the brief domestic violence reminded me of Raging Bull, and the toe comment of Payback, etc. A good film in general.