TRESPASS AGAINST US (2016) ** ½

 

I’m kind of a connoisseur of gypsy cinema.  I come from a long line of gypsies, and although I am far removed from that world in real life, I always enjoy seeing my heritage dramatized on the screen.  Whether it be The King of the Gypsies, Traveller, or Snatch, I never miss an opportunity to check out what Gypsy Cinema has in store.

Michael Fassbender stars as a gypsy who lives in a close-knit trailer community with his criminal family out in the woods.  To protest his brother’s incarceration, the family often pulls stunts like driving a yellow car around town to lure the local cops into a chase they have no chance of winning.  Unlike those around him, Fassbender is uneasy with the hardscrabble lifestyle and is looking for a way out, much to the chagrin of his domineering father (Brendan Gleeson). 

Trespass Against Us is a little disappointing when compared to the previous works of Gypsy Cinema I previously mentioned.  Unlike the characters in those films, Fassbender and company don’t go around conning, scamming, and grifting people out of their hard-earned dollars.  The saying goes, “A dollar grifted is better than a hundred dollars earned”.  This family never heard that saying as they prefer to earn their keep from thieving, break-ins, and other forms of criminal mischief. 

I’m not saying that alone makes the film lesser in my eyes.  It’s just that the dramatic meat of the story is somewhat lacking.  Despite strong performances by Fassbender and Gleeson, the tension between them is nominal.  Their push-me-pull-you family dynamics are firmly set to simmer, with neither one ever really getting to the point of boiling over.  Their final scenes of reconciliation are fairly predictable too.  Gleeson does get a good monologue where he adamantly professes why he believes the earth is flat.  He is so good in this scene that he may be able to convince a few people to get on board with his flat-earth rhetoric. 

Ultimately, this is more of a family drama set in the gypsy caravan world than a movie about gypsy life itself.  Still, it’s the slice of life touches that keeps Trespass Against Us’ head above water.  I especially loved all the gypsy slang and lingo, so be sure to watch the film with the subtitles on to get the full impact of the idiosyncratic dialogue.  It’s ironic that their language, which is designed to keep outsiders from understanding what they’re saying is the most endearing thing about them.  At least for me anyway.