The Vicious Kind

Caleb Sinclaire (Adam Scott) is an angry bitter drunken insomniac. His brother Peter (Alex Frost) has a new girlfriend Emma Gainsborough (Brittany Snow). They pick her up from college. Caleb warns him against all women, but he can't seem to get his mind off of her. Peter and Emma are staying with their father Donald (J.K. Simmons), and Caleb has a contentious relationship with their father.

This is definitely not the normal character that Adam Scott usually plays and it's far away from his nice guy persona. Caleb is unhinged and self destructive. It's a good performance from him as well as Brittany Snow. Writer/director Lee Toland Krieger has created a difficult dysfunctional family dynamics. The story has just a little bit of humor. I wish it had a bit more as well as more drama. It's an interesting little indie with some interesting performances.

During a star-free night at an already emptied drive-in theatre, this film made my heart burn. This very last screening of a winter's night did not attract an audience but one sole viewer. And if you have an understanding of passion and pain you might not even be comforted by a crowd. You might prefer solitude while watching cinematic characters fight and love.

There are no exceptional techniques, there is no dazzling style. Visually the film holds back. As a result one character can step forward. Only this person seems to inhabit the film's universe and this could be considered a drop of bitterness.

However, this one person is able to entertain without the necessity of applause. He embodies the passionate being who bites back after being wounded. It is easy to fall for the broken one as long as you believe that there is a chance to heal. He is explosive. His hatred is an exceptional passion in disguise. In a universe of flat personalities he stands out. He cares too much, he loves too much and he cannot stop being passionate about every single soul. As a result, his viciousness is not inspiring hate but love from us and from them. We and everyone else are attracted because he is so full of what everyone else seems to lack.

The film presents us a world where people are not grown-up emotionally. Passions are rare and feared. In this universe people do not easily possess passionate love. Only the protagonist seems to own it but he also seems unable to handle it. Still, he is able to inspire another person, maybe even the audience to love him back. We learn that pain and love do not end, but jump like a virus from person to person. Love stories repeat themselves.

Passion is portrayed as a very dangerous form of love, one which easily feeds into a vicious cycle of being hurt and of hurting in return. But whether or not you can handle the pain and the guilt, for the passionate ones it seems inevitable to fall for it at least once in their lives.

The Vicious Kind (2009)

This sneaks up on you. At first you can't believe how awful the older brother is, mean and acerbic, but he's strangely perceptive and quick, too. Played by Adam Scott, he's really a wonder to watch, and he makes the movie. The other three main characters end up being strong but supporting roles, making for a great small ensemble performance. And they have a curious, not spectacular, but nuanced plot. It's filled with little clichés we are sure we've seen before, but it all has an odd arc to it, and a cutting, believable edge, and it takes on a life of its own.

This is only director Lee Toland Krieger's second film, and it shows a kind of deft handling of young people's problems that is precocious, and promising. Adam Scott has been knocking about for fifteen years, and has crossed paths with some of the best (he has been in some quality t.v. like "Six Feet Under," and was a secondary character in "The Aviator" among many others). The father in "The Vicious Kind," a pivotal character in explaining the motives behind the two sons, is that strong character actor, J.K. Simmons, who has trouble shedding his previous roles (including a more comic version of the same thing in "Juno").

A whole greater than the sum of its parts. Captivating. Not to be underestimated.

The Vicious Kind is the kind of film that will play great to rabid audiences on the festival circuit, the problem being that now it has been released to the general paying public. There are a lot of problems with this film, namely; the humor isn't very funny, and the drama can't be taken too seriously. This will leave any film dead on arrival. What The Vicious Kind attempts to do is mix comedy and drama, and what's left is blandness and confusion amongst the aud per what is supposed to be funny and what is serious. Adam Scott is decent, but he could be real good if the script gave him some real emotion to play off of. Which brings me to the films next major problem - motivations. What drives these characters to do what they do? There is some back story, but it felt very exposition-y. There's a lot of crying being done here seemingly without reason as well, explicitly as means to "deepen" the characters and solemn the mood.

If you want to see a truly great American Indie this year, rent "Two Lovers".

In a lot of ways this feels like a some what darker version of Dan In Real life. Caleb (Adam Scott) picks up his little brother Peter (Alex Frost) and his new girlfriend Emma (Brittany Snow) for Thanksgiving. It becomes clear that Caleb is dealing with some raging emotional issues. About his ex-girlfriend and his dad Donald (J.K. Simmons)who tends to have issues of his own. Caleb starts to grow infatuated with Emma to the point of almost breaking sanity.

I"m not going to spoil the film so I am going to keep my feelings short. By no means is the story original,but the acting was good enough to enjoy it. I think Adam Scott played his role well. As well as Brittany . Got to give it up for J.K. Simmons! That guy rocks at playing dad's . The weakest acted role in my opinion was by Alex Frost. Not saying it was bad! Just not as strong as the others. He played a great bully in Drillbit Taylor though ill give him that.

I give it an 8 out of 10! Simply because of the acting, and starring at Brittany for an hour and a half wasn't so bad either...Shes Gorgeous!