Romper Stomper is an aesthetic tour de force. Fronted by a shaven-headed Russell Crowe prior to the Gladiator superstardom, his white supremacist is a disenfranchised Melbournian sweating rage from every pore. It’s admirable that Crowe’s glassy-eyed fury could be a moment away from tears as he teeters on an edge between frenzied animosity and a deep-rooted sadness. It’s a mark of the New Zealand born actor’s talent, revealing a subtle intimacy in a character that is otherwise underwritten.
