Movie Review: The Vicious Kind

Synopsis:  An older brother tries to warn a younger brother about the perils of falling in love with a girl.  In the process of warning his younger brother, Caleb, played by Adam Scott, becomes increasingly obsessed with his younger brothers new girlfriend.

Opening line by Caleb Sinclaire (played by Adam Scott):

"You know they're all whores, right? All of 'em. I'm not just talking about the little skanks that hang out around your dorm, or frat, or whatever. But actually every woman you've ever known, and every woman you'll ever meet - Mom, Grandma, Aunt Ellen. The fact that they're related to us doesn't make any difference. Cause at the end of the day, given the right set of events, they *will* fuck you over. For the sole reason that they have a vagina, and they can."

I wasn't sure if the movie would draw me in, or if I would spit it out, but as I got to watching, I found myself compelled to watch.  Its a simple premise of an estranged father to the eldest son, youngest son is naive and new girlfriend of youngest son, doesn't know much about the family aside what the youngest son has detailed.

What is glaringly obvious is that Caleb has been dicked over by a girl and he has not fully allowed himself to recover from this disaster.  His hatred and loathing, although directed towards his father and towards women, is really a hatred of self.  It also may be that he doesn't hate himself, but rather can't understand why his important relationships, such as that with his father or his last significant other failed.  Rather than dealing with this situation, Caleb tries to warn his brother that he will only get hurt.

As we begin to wade into the water, we see that the relationship with his father became distanced because of a supposed event with his mother years prior.  Caleb's protection mechanism is to avoid his father at all costs and protect himself by claiming that his father, played by J.K Simmons (Law and Order, Juno), is an asshole and responsible for the family falling apart.

Another interesting storyline that develops is the relationship between Caleb and Emma Gainsborough, played by Brittney Snow.  What starts as an obvious dislike between the two, becomes an elephant in the room as Caleb becomes more and more attracted to Emma.

The movie does a good job and keeping cohesion between the characters, although I must admit, Peter Sinclaire, played by Alex Frost, in my humbled opinion is miscast and not as strong an actor as I would have liked to have seen. I did like the confrontation scene between Caleb and his father outside Calebs room, just before Peter wakes up.  You begin to see the whole picture and how things began to take form.

Be ready for awkward moments and uncomfortable scenes throughout.  Once you get passed them, you will hopefully enjoy the story as it unfolds, as I did.  I give this move 3 out of 5 stars and well worth a netflix or redbox watch.