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Dec 31, 2014Nursebob rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What separates this amazing film from the usual crop of crime dramas is that the focus is not on police procedures but rather on the dark and complex character of Jacky. A heavily muscled brutish man given to fits of violent anger, Jacky’s haunted eyes hold a terrible secret which director Michael Roskam slowly, almost reluctantly reveals through a series of childhood flashbacks. He is a tragic figure embodying both a sorrowful yearning for the things he can never have and an impotent rage against the cold realities that delineate his life. Taking small comfort in the illusion offered by the many steroids he snorts, pops and shoots, Jacky personifies the question of what makes a man a man. Given the recent cinematic glut of gun-toting macho stereotypes it’s refreshing to see a director make a sincere attempt to explore the more fragile recesses of the male psyche.