Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

grantss Brilliant judicial drama. Very engaging - you empathize with Henri Young and wince at the hardships he faced. Also makes you realise how despicable people, especially people in authority, can be.Christian Slater is solid in the lead role. Standout performance, however, goes to Kevin Bacon. He makes the movie. How he did not get an Oscar nomination, I do not know. Gary Oldman is excellent as the bad guy, but that's a given. Good supporting cast which includes William H Macy, Embeth Davidz and Stephen Tobolowsky, plus Kyra Segewick and Mia Kirshner in minor roles.Only dull note is the performance of R Lee Ermey as the judge. He was not convincing at all. He really should stick to gunnery sergeant roles...

lathe-of-heaven When I read Msroz's review I thought, 'Yep, that's it all right...' While watching this I was really trying to figure out what was wrong with it. The technical aspects and cinematography were excellent and the performances themselves were quite good, especially Kevin Bacon's.BUT... the reviewer hit right on it and I agree. To me, there were just TOO many artificially inserted elements and distractions that I feel were put in in order to give it 'Authenticity'. However, all the grating voice-overs of newsmen and announcers, and a number of other little things, just seemed irritating and I feel greatly detracted from what COULD have otherwise been an excellent film. I think what it came down to were the stylistic choices of the director. I looked up his other films and other than 'WHERE THE DAY TAKES YOU' prior to this film (I have not see it) it doesn't seem like he has really done that much of any import, and has done nothing since, which is kind of odd. Although he did pass away at a rather young age in 2009.I think he DID bring out some nice things that were important and helpful to the story. And, like I mentioned, the performances overall were very good. My lowly and wretched impression is that the director, while having some really good ideas, tried TOO dang hard to add SO many little touches that, if done well, COULD have been called 'Stylish', but ultimately to me anyway just struck me as artificial and somewhat jarring to the overall flow of the movie. I don't mind a highly stylized film if it is done well or even if just the style alone is what makes a movie interesting enough to watch. But, that isn't the case here...It is a shame too, because like the comment that you often hear, 'You KNOW that there's a good movie in there somewhere', in this case I feel that is true. If it just hadn't been for the 'Death of 1000 cuts', so to speak (or perhaps, directorial choices) the movie could have been pretty good. There really ARE some great moments in the film, but unfortunately many of these are lost amongst all the 'stylistic choices' that kind of water everything down, unfortunately...I don't know, many here DO indeed seem to like this film, and it DOES have a kind of 'Classic' feel to it which I liked. Perhaps I am just being a little too particular or critical of the way the director handled a lot of the film. Maybe, others may just be able to sit back and enjoy it.I think it would depend on how sensitive or demanding you are with your films and whether you would NOTICE these things I mentioned or whether they would even end up bothering you. But, to me anyway, they did kind of stand out and ultimately diminish the impact of the film.So, I hope that gives you at least some insight, or at least MY impression of the film and helps you decide whether it is the kind of movie that you would like...

deacon_blues-3 Just about every factual detail of this film is a complete lie, right down to the spelling of Henry Young's name (Henri was an alias of this habitual bank robber and murderer). The whole film is just a high-handed defamation of the U.S. penal system, which did not warrant any such besmirching. I'm surprised that R. Lee Ermey was a part of this film. He probably regrets it by now. The real Henri Young jumped parole in 1972, was last seen in Washington State, and may still be alive and at large today with at least two known homicides to his credit. He was not a non-violent offender at the time he came to Alcatraz, he was serving a sentence for murder and bank robbery! He did not spend 3 years or even three months in solitary after the escape attempt, and murdered McCain over a year after rejoining the general prison population. His solitary time was done in a normal holding cell in the main cell block, with normal lighting, exercise, medical attention, and food supplies throughout the entire period. DO NOT GET YOUR HISTORY FROM Hollywood! They spin sentimentalist lies at every possible opportunity. Check out the facts on "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "Awakenings" for two more infamous pack of lies.

Aaron1375 I would usually not watch a film of this type of my own accord, but it was shown to me in a criminal justice course. It was rather interesting as it features Christian Slater as a young attorney assigned a case to defend a prisoner at the infamous Alcatraz prison. The case is one he is not supposed to win, he is just representing the guy and the guy is supposed to be put to death. Instead, the young idealistic attorney sees that the young man who committed murder while imprisoned for a rather minor crime committed the crime not because he was initially some sort of monster, but because the tactics used by the warden were cruel and turned him into one. Very interesting and it even has some funny scenes as well in it. Kevin Bacon does a really good job with his role and Slater is good as well. It does run a bit long, but that is usually the case with most films like this one. I liked how Slater's character was able to make his case and I also enjoyed Bacon's character when he was put on the stand as that seemed to make the point nicely. I did not care for the end, but there is not much one can do about that as it was based on a true story. Overall, though I usually do not watch films such as this I did enjoy it.