"Jungleland" Hits Hard With Strong Performances And An Emotionally Gripping Story
10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars
Sometimes, it takes a lot of sacrifice to achieve your goals. Especially when you’re at rock bottom trying to fight your way to the top. In writer and director Max Winkler’s dramatic road movie Jungleland, that’s exactly what the main characters are trying to do. Literally. In the world of underground boxing. As his third feature film (Ceremony and Flower being his other two), Winkler utilizes this story to hyper focus on characters trying to find their way out of desperate situations. The result here in Jungleland is an impressive display of character development and quality filmmaking.
Charlie Hunnam (The Gentlemen, Sons Of Anarchy) plays Stan, who holds the big picture of achieving some semblance of the American Dream for he and his brother at the forefront of every plan he devises and every bet he wagers. His brother, Lion played by Jack O’Connell (Starred Up, Unbroken), is an underground boxer who Stan manages and sees as their ticket to reaching that more prosperous lifestyle he imagines.
But Stan’s mountain of outstanding debt with a local gangster named Pepper, played by Jonathan Majors (The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Lovecraft Country) comes to a head when one more bet on a surefire win for Lion doesn’t pan out as Stan had expected. But in the wake of this, Pepper offers the brothers one last opportunity to settle up: a spot on the docket for the Jungleland fighting tournament in San Francisco with a $100k prize awarded to the winner. But getting there calls for a cross country road trip with a catch: deliver a girl, Sky played by Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World), to a dangerous crime lord on the way.
From there, moral dilemmas, unexpected events, and sibling drama ensues, making it more and more difficult for Stan and Lion to pull off this already arduous endeavor.
It’s a captivating journey where not every decision made is a productive one, but everything that happens gleans a little more understanding about the characters. Regardless of the detours the road trip itself might take, it’s the conversations Stan, Lion, and Sky have with each other in between the major events that effectively navigate the narrative through their mindsets. All three have an indiscernible blend of selfishness and selflessness built into their motivations - little of it is ill-intentioned, but all of it contributes to the increasingly complicated nature of their relationship to each other.
But the standout aspect of Jungleland - and the films greatest selling point for me - is the relationship between Stan and Lion. Despite the hardships, disagreements, and conflicts these brothers endure with each other, their close bond and brotherly love has a radiant and exceptional on-screen potency, which is a rousing testament to both the writing of their characters by Winkler and the performances by Hunnam and O’Connell.
The plot itself might be more cliched than I expected, but it serves as a suitable catalyst for the intricate characters and emotional gravity Winkler has curated for this story. Jungleland checks the necessary boxes to make it a remarkable cinematic experience, ultimately marking this film in the win column for Max Winkler.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer's Preference - 2 | What does this mean?