In this vile Great Gatsby rip-off, a whiny 16-year-old named Finn (Anton Yelchin) and his cokehead tramp of a mother (Diane Lane) relocate from their New York loft to a sprawling New Jersey estate owned by wealthy socialite Ogden C. Osborne (Donald Sutherland). For the first half of the film, director Griffin Dunne revels with his pauper protagonist in the delights of mingling with the rich; but he spends the second half sadistically displaying the dark sociopathic urges of the enormously wealthy. Fierce People is nasty, unfunny and wildly incongruous. It treats a cocaine addiction with the frivolity of an occasional Taco Bell indulgence (Lane gets sober in seconds), yet also includes a shockingly brutal attack on a child that is supposed to be regarded with grave concern. All of this is presented through a smug voiceover by Finn — one of the least likeable protagonists seen on film this year.
Opens September 7
Opens September 7
