My wife picked Fierce People randomly from the on demand selection. Yeah, that’s right, another pick randomly chosen because of the title or the artwork. However, this was the third film she attempted to pick this night, but I approved immediately when I saw Anton Yelchin’s name. The movie is an odd one, but features some great performances. I give Fierce People the Decent Watch rating.
Fierce People was an odd film with some good performances
Liz Earl (Diane Lane) is a massage therapist, an addict, and a mother. Finn’s (Anton Yelchin) father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, but he’s never known him. Liz seeks out the help of a rich friend (Donald Sutherland) to get clean and reconnect with her son.
As per usual, I’m enjoyed Anton Yelchin’s performance a lot. He is really young in this film, but he still conveys so much doing so little. He sells crying, anger, love, and comedic elements so well. His relationship with Kristen Stewart was also very believable. She proved to me she is a much better actress than the Twilight films would have us believe. I’ve seen a few other films of hers and she’s usually pretty great. Chris Evans has moments, but often feels a little too big for the role. Some of his line reads aren’t believable, but that could be the writing or directing.
Donal Sutherland’s entry into President Snow
Donald Sutherland’s character almost made me feel we’d stumbled into the origin story of the Hunger Games. I’ve seen him in plenty of films so that’s not the reason he reminded me of President Snow. It’s his power that he has being extremely wealthy and how people seem to treat him like a president. It’s a fun way to interpret the character in the early part of the film. What if this is before he turns sour and something will trigger the first ever Hunger Games. However, he is charming and his connection with Anton Yelchin is extremely endearing.
Final Thoughts on Fierce People
It’s not a movie you have to rush out to watch. Yet, if you’re a fan of Yelchin I definitely recommend it. There is a scene where rape is implied, but not scene. It’s intense and kind of out of nowhere. However, the coming of age elements of Finn are heavily influenced by that event. Tied to his obsession with his dad’s documentary, it creates an interesting character dynamic.
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