02-11-2004, 10:28 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Apocalypse Nerd
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Here are some pictures from this EXCELLENT MOVIE
 
Mickey Rourke(!)
Quote:
"Prison flick from ex-con screenwriter is raw and realistic, with powerful acting."
If there's any such thing as karma, then Animal Factory does much to repay the psychic debt Steve Buscemi incurred with his creepy performance as the likable, child-murdering convict in Con Air. Animal Factory doesn't paint prison as a prelude to adventure (48 Hrs., Con Air) or as a Norman Rockwell backdrop (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile). Instead, Animal Factory chooses to examine human interaction -- from kindness to cruelty -- within the confines of prison.
The movie begins as an affluent, upper-class white kid (Edward Furlong) is arrested carrying $200,000 worth of pot and LSD. Sent to an unnamed prison (wonderfully captured in grainy cinematography), he meets Willem Dafoe, a glowering lifer who rules the prison roost. Dafoe has surrounded himself with cronies and peers in a partially color-blind gang (which includes character actor Danny Trejo, a producer on this project and an ex-con in real life). There's no reason for Dafoe to reach out to Furlong or to protect him. But Dafoe does.
Furlong, with the deer-in-the-headlights look of someone in deeper trouble than he ever imagined, isn't sure why Dafoe wants to befriend him. Consequently, Furlong is wary of the quid pro quo that Dafoe might ask in return. But it's not about sex; if it were, Dafoe assures Furlong, the matter would be a done deal -- regardless of his objections. The two become friends, with Dafoe mentoring and advising Furlong about prison jobs, what to do during a riot, how to fake an injury and legal procedure.
Animal Factory isn't a story in which everyone gets to live happily ever after: Some people never leave prison; others, even after release, never leave prison behind.
A gritty, superbly acted drama from a script by ex-con, author and occasional actor Edward Bunker (Runaway Train, Reservoir Dogs), Animal Factory is Buscemi's sophomore directorial effort. Buscemi has broadened his canvas, and the methods used in his alcoholism drama, Trees Lounge (giving a talented ensemble a good script and letting them riff), continue to serve him well. It's worth noting that Buscemi directed an episode of Home Box Office's prison drama, "Oz," in obvious preparation for Animal Factory.
The movie isn't perfect; there are minor hitches in the story's structure, and many obvious issues (such as Dafoe's criminal record) remain unexplored. But the film provides a convincing, compelling look at the confederation among prison inmates and at the society that put them behind bars.
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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/click/...e=1&rid=809924 |
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