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Andy K (10823 KP) rated Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017) in Movies

Mar 3, 2018

Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017)

2017 | Action, Thriller

7.3

(19 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

This ain't no Wedding Crashers

Having just watched Bone Tomahawk (you must watch it) and learning writer/director S. Craig Zahler also helmed this film, I was even more anxious to see.

After Vince Vaughn loses his job, he is forced into a life as a drug runner. His big score goes wrong, he makes some tough decisions and ends up in prison. He is then manipulated and has to make even more intense decisions in order to make events happen in his favor.

Vaughn is believable as a tough, abrasive husband trying to save his family. His morality is questionable and you can't decide whether to root for him pr hate him. Don Johnson is also a standout as the warden.

I found it fascinating and exhilarating at the same time. Some of the fight scenes are maybe a little excessively violent, but that is the nature of prison life I imagine.

Zahler is slowly making a name for himself with these two films. He also has Dragged Across Concrete coming out later this year.

He hasn't reached Tarantino status quite yet, but he is off to a good start.

Kudos

ClareR (6037 KP) rated The Mars Room: A Novel in Books

Jul 30, 2018

A stunning debut.

Romy Hall has been given 2 consecutive life sentences for the murder of her stalker. This novel follows her arrival at prison, and reveals the story of her life in the lead up and at the start of her incarceration. We also meet some of the women who she lives with during this time.
I can see why this book has been nominated for The Man Booker Prize 2018 - it clearly shows how a childhood of poverty and benign neglect can lead to drug addiction and crime. It also shows the awful conditions of the prison that Romy is kept in and the hatred of the guards towards their charges. This isn't an environment of rehabilitation, it's an environment of harsh punishment. Which probably explains the high rates of reoffending.
It's a frustrating book to read, because I think the reader really does start to care about the people that they read about (at least I did), even though the writing doesn't actually invite us to feel for the characters. In fact it's all written in quite a detached way. They are more than just the crime they committed, and this book shows that.