A title card that precedes Andrew Dominik's first film declares the work to be a dramatization rather than a biography, but it doesn't really lessen the impact Chopper can have on an audience.  It's essentially a biopic about notorious Australian bad boy Mark Brandon Read, who earned the nickname "Chopper" by hacking off the toes of his victims (of which there are, reportedly, 19).

Unlike America's infamous nerdy killers, the heavily tattooed Read is as charismatic as they come.  When he explains the world really would be a better place without his victims, we believe that just might be the case.  The public's fascination with Read doesn't stop with rehashing the grisly details of his crimes, either.  Read has written a series of books from prison, and each has become a bestseller.  Although Read's exploits are probably a bit exaggerated, make no mistake about it – he's one bad dude.

The film begins in the '70s, where Read (played by Eric Bana) is in the pokey for botching a kidnapping attempt he'd been dreaming of since he was a boy (and all I was concerned with was scoring me some Batman Underoos). It's a maximum-security prison (it still looks like a country club compared to Oz), and Read makes some pretty big enemies while inside. So big, in fact, Read had his own ears sliced off to get himself moved to a different cell block. 

Fast-forward to the '80s, where Read is back on the streets, raising all kinds of hell in the seedy underbelly of Melbourne. And he does a lot of really bad things, most of which probably actually happened. It's ghastly, horrible stuff, but Chopper is the rare film in which you can root for a heinous, real-life criminal and not feel like a tool for doing it, making it a bit like John Boorman's The General in some respect. Also appealing is Dominik's decision to neither demonize nor praise Read, leaving that decision to be made by each individual viewer. Dominik fills the film with a number of pretty dazzling visual tricks, as well. 

The real star here is Bana, one of Australia's biggest standup comedians He doesn't have much acting experience (he had a small part in The Castle), yet is still able to stick this performance. Think about Ray Romano nailing the lead role in a Ted Bundy biopic to get an idea of how impressive this feat is. Bana is probably just as charismatic as Read, and his deadpan one-liners make the film something special. When Read is shanked by one of his friends, he doesn't roll around in agony, but responds, "What's gotten into you?" When he stabs a foe in the neck, Read doesn't run away, but instead asks, "You all right, mate?" 

1:33 –

for graphic violence and adult language