Bullhead

Belgian director Michael R. Roskam scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film with this crime drama focusing on Jacky Vanmarsenille, a 30-year-old loner who runs his family's meat manufacturing business. Jacky's cattle are pumped up on growth hormones, while the bulky Jacky himself takes steroids. Jacky's life begins to fray when he crosses paths with a Mafia meat trader whose lieutenant (and secret police informer) is a childhood friend aware of the horrifying event that turned Jacky into a steroid addict. Bullhead is fueled by a startling central performance by Matthias Schoenaerts as Jacky (following in the footsteps of Raging Bull's Robert De Niro with an extreme physical makeover), whose ability to channel his character's emotional damage turns what could have been a hulking mass of ‘roid rage into a heartbreaking portrait of a damaged man unable to connect with the world around him. Although a bit burdened by an overcomplicated plot and sometimes too violent, the film still works thanks to Schoenaerts's sheer energetic force and Roskam's bold direction. Recommended. (P. Hall)