Film Review – Son of a Gun

A tale of criminal enterprises, paranoia, and burgeoning love, “Son of a Gun” appears to understand that originality is not one of its strong suits. Writer/director Julius Avery (making his helming debut) does a laudable job steering the feature away from outright cliché, pumping the picture full of action and heated confrontations, while the details of hood life are arranged interestingly, allowing the audience to dig into wicked behavior while fully aware they’ve seen it all before. Fumbled ending aside, “Son of a Gun” is an energetic and periodically penetrating thriller, competently isolating a pulse-pounding feeling of survival as underworld indignities pile up for the lead character. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com