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Chopper

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 22 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Andrew Dominik
Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 11, 2001
DVD: November 13, 2001
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: Australia
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, David Field, Daniel Wyllie, and Bill Young
A bold, blackly comic character study about a self-proclaimed "national icon" Mark 'Chopper' Read. A multi-sided examination of the pathology of a complex and violent man, a man who becomes a cult figure thanks to a colourful imagination and a wicked, old-world sense of humour. (First Look Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Variety David Stratton
The director has managed the difficult feat of making a nonlinear film that contains a handful of almost unbearably suspenseful sequences, each one undercut by bizarre black humor.
Read Full Review >Newsweek Devin Gordon
Hilariously unhinged, but also desperate and confused.
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A most ambitious first film. Dominik pulls it off impressively, assisted by a selfless cast, a driving score by Mick Harvey, and gifted cameramen Kevin Hayward and Geoffrey Hall.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Bana, who appears in nearly every shot, talking all the while, gives a remarkably mercurial performance.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Mr. Bana's Chopper is so scarily convincing that he makes you feel the eruptive force of each mood swing and the way his character's paranoia, egomania and conscience- stricken apologies are part of a volatile emotional cycle.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Not everyone's cup of tea, but it's actually rather beautiful.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Too quick to uncritically and unthinkingly accept its subject's rollickingly self-mythologizing take on himself.
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
It's Eric Bana, a popular Australian stand-up comic, who justifies our interest with a dazzling performance of blunt humor, unpredictability and an edge of menace.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
An impressionistic portrait of the seductive nature of evil.
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Its dabs of dark comedy and stabs of gore, still rings with a sense of the real. It's electric-charged.
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Pulls no punches - blood flows very freely (including the ear-cutting scene) and black humor abounds.
Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
Bloody, profane and compelling, Chopper marks an impressive debut for Dominik and a revelation of Bana's talent.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Eric Bana's performance suggests he will soon be leaving the comedy clubs of Australia and turning up as a Bond villain or a madman in a special-effects picture. He has a quality no acting school can teach and few actors can match: You cannot look away from him.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
Dominik's stylistic choices are savvy, but what really makes the movie work is Bana's extraordinary performance as Chopper.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
It's galling to see such a low-life canonized in a film, but it's also riveting drama.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
There's an awful lot of kinetic energy to Chopper, and the violence is portrayed as graphically as imaginable.
Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
A point is being made about how a criminal creates his own myth, but the ways Read twists and embellishes the truth become progressively less interesting.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
This fictionalized, frequently stomach-churning biography of Australian criminal Mark Chopper Read features the most bloody ear-severing scene since "Reservoir Dogs."
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
It's a great style, it's a fabulous performance, but it never quite finds what it's searching for.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
The connection between his boasting about killing and killing so he can boast about it -- is made beautifully insidious.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Much ado about very little because it takes no stand and gives little insight into the Chopper's psyche.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A movie overtly designed to win attention (and not to do much else).
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
She_devil_vamp*** gave it a 10:
I met Chopper in 2004. Eric Bana plays him perfectly, its scary!
David gave it a 3:
I was disappointed by this movie. As one reviewer put it, it seemed to be "much ado about nothing." 'Course, it would help if I could understand what the characters were saying which isn't easy since most are speaking in a thick Australian accent.
Lawrence C. gave it a 10:
Brilliant!!! cant get nough of it!!
Kate S. gave it a 10:
Best Bloody Movie Ever!!
Colin C. gave it a 10:
Best movie of all time. better then any american garbage that has come out recently. Hilariuos bloody hilarious, well done chop chop.
David P. gave it a 10:
Chopper RULES!!!
Zach R. gave it a 10:
The man is a legend . my idol .
