Eric Bana plays one of the most deranged men you will ever see in your life, Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, who, just as an example, had someone cut off his ears so he would get moved to a different prison. What's worse is that this is a real guy, who really is insane, and is a national fucking celebrity in Australia. He's a bestselling author, he's a columnist in a variety of magazines, he's put out a rap album, and he claims to have killed 19 men and almost killed 11 more.
Here's a screenshot from the movie. It's Eric Bana--if you can believe it:
Bana is ridiculously good. It's a short picture too--only 94 minutes--and the writing is slick as hell. Here's a couple of bits:
Interviewer: You've written a best-seller...
Chopper: Yeah, I know - and I can't even bloody spell. What about those poor bloody academics, those college graduates, battling their guts out to write some airy-fairy piece of exaggerated artwork? And here's a bloke, sitting in a cell, who can't spell, and he's written a best-seller. It's sold two hundred and fifty thousand copies. And it's still selling. And he's writing another one. And I can't even spell. I'm semi-bloody-illiterate.
There's another great scene where Chopper is explaining why he won't rat on a childhood friend:
Chopper: Look. The bloke's been me best mate since 1975. We've had our fallouts from time to time, it's no big deal. Y'know, it's like... if ya mum stabs ya, whaddya do? Y-ya don't get upset. Ya don't get angry, ya go, "Shit, mum's stabbed me, I better get off to the hospital."
I can't say this enough--see Chopper. It's been on IFC lately and the DVD is out there as well. You won't regret it.
JS
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