Bronson Storms Sundance

Apparently John Anderson was so amped up by Bronson that in an unrelated matter he punched Jeff “the Dude” Dowd in the face the next day. Twice. Which must mean that Bronson is at least on track to gratify what Anderson refers to as its readymade “fanboy base.” (Godard famously said that the best way to critique a film is to make a film. It may be the case that the best way to criticize a film is actually to punch someone in the face.) But Anderson, along with other first impressions of the film from Sundance, agrees that there is a great deal going on beneath its bull-headed surface. Hillis talks about how Refn outdoes Chopper’s fever dream depiction of misunderstood sociopaths. Noel Murray spends some time describing the process of getting used to Refn’s “lyrical” mash-up of action cinema convention with the quiet pacing of the Scandinavian auteur vibe. And Ebiri over at Screengrab even goes so far as to use phrases like “self-actualization” and “complicated European art cinema of the 70s” in his take. After these initial reviews, one is left with the impression that Bronson is treading some of the same territory as JCVD, albeit with more street cred. One also wonders if audiences so entranced by Ram’s less pensive moments in The Wrestler are ready for Refn’s assault on the art-house scene.