Not long ago I watched Death Warrant (1990), about an undercover cop in prison, and struggled horribly to suspend disbelief. Yes, I know that it’s not sensible to subject the credibility of any action flick’s storyline to too much scrutiny, but I struggled nonetheless. Behind Prison Gates is worse, and it’s not even a ’30s action flick, really. It too is about an undercover cop in a prison who has his cover blown, and the plot is even more ludicrous. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on March 14th, 2010 at 1:52 pm. Updated on April 4th, 2010 at 9:02 pm.
I think it’s good to learn something new every day. I’ve just watched Death Warrant and I now know how to work as an undercover cop in a tough prison environment. First, use your own name. Fake names are apparently for wusses. Second, as soon as you’re inside, start asking lots of nosy questions; that won’t draw any attention to you, ever. Third, get your partner who is pretending to be your wife to do most of the background checking after you’re inside, so she can give you the low-down in the open, public visits area. Spontaneity is fun and so much more effective than preparation. Lastly, if it’s urgent, use your cell phone. Easy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on March 13th, 2010 at 4:38 pm. Updated on March 14th, 2010 at 8:45 pm.
It is inconceivable that this movie could have been made anywhere other than Britain; it is quintessentially British. Like Two Way Stretch (1960), it anticipates the much more commercially successful Porridge series with its gently humourous observations of mundane, day-to-day existence (and celebrations of minor villainy) in the nick. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on March 13th, 2010 at 4:37 pm. Updated on March 13th, 2010 at 4:37 pm.
This is a smouldering love affair spanning prison and life after. It’s often been compared to Brokeback Mountain, with good reason; a man’s world, two seemingly heterosexual men falling in love, and nearly all of it understated or unspoken. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on March 8th, 2010 at 10:54 am. Updated on March 8th, 2010 at 10:54 am.
Set entirely in a spartan four-man cell, this could be voted Least Uplifting Film of 2009. It’s apparently based on real events at a German juvenile detention centre in Siegburg, near Bonn, in 2006, where three inmates tortured, raped and then hanged a fourth. That doesn’t make it any easier to watch. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on March 7th, 2010 at 4:19 pm. Updated on March 7th, 2010 at 4:19 pm.
This is supposed to be inspired by actual events, but it’s not clear which actual events provided that inspiration. Methinks there’s a liberal dose of artistic licence being splashed about. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm. Updated on February 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm.
The synopses of this movie all refer to a young kid getting sent to jail for three years and later seeking revenge against the judge who sent him there – after she had seemingly accepted a bribe from his parents to suspend his sentence. There’s a still of him in jail on the back of the DVD. Looks promising. What the reviews don’t say is that his three years in jail are distilled into just 83 seconds of film time, and that the scene on the cover isn’t even in the movie. All we see of him in prison is him hugging his mates, and leaving. That’s it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 28th, 2010 at 12:01 pm. Updated on February 28th, 2010 at 12:14 pm.
There are plenty who are touting this as a masterpiece of dark and gritty prison realism. And there are certainly some masterful bits. But is it a prison movie masterpiece? I’m not so sure. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 21st, 2010 at 6:42 pm. Updated on August 29th, 2019 at 8:45 pm.
They had a bit of fun with this campy melodrama, I reckon. One prison guard tells her reliever that she’s heading off “to catch the last show at the Bijou.” “That prison movie?” says the other, incredulously. “Yeah.” “They never get things right in prison pictures.” “I know. But I like to pick out the flaws.” Me, too. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 21st, 2010 at 3:05 pm. Updated on March 14th, 2010 at 2:12 pm.
Take a new teacher with a past, a campaign against setting up a school in a prison, and an array of troublesome prisoner students. The temptation to bring everything to a happy conclusion (inspiring teacher redeemed, criminals reformed, star pupil singing ‘To Sir, With Love’… that sort of thing) must have been pretty strong. Fortunately, it’s resisted. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 13th, 2010 at 11:04 pm. Updated on February 14th, 2010 at 7:32 pm.