superdad25
Absolutely loved this film... Gritty, violent and intense, but very deep and sad at the same time. I'm just blown away.
Kris McCarthy
***spoiler**This movie proves that Jack O'Connell is a rising star that is going to go super nova with the right role at any minute. As a new fan of his I've started watching his films and each get better and better. From beginning to end this movie was hard to watch yet hard to take your eyes away from the screen. You are drawn to Eric Love (O'Connell) from the very beginning. From understanding a 19 year old sent to an adult prison 2 years earlier than normal you know he's going to be up against the bad and the worst of humanity. Then to find out his father is in the same cell block adds another layer of intrigue and worry. He portrays "crazy" to survive but you wonder if he just might be a bit crazy. With a good taste of the movie Bronson staring Tom Hardy, I can see where this star is going. I wish more of his movies were on this side of the pond. This movie is a fast paced, action packed emotional ride. Hold on tight and fall in love with Jack O'Connell.
lasttimeisaw
A UK prison drama directed by David Mackenzie (YOUNG ADAM 2003, 7/10 and ASYLUM 2005, 6/10), which has instantly leapfrogged Jack O' Connell to the most promising young actor echelon, who would win BAFTA Rising Star Award later for Angelina Jolie's UNBROKEN (2014), if his demonic performance in James Watkins' EDEN LAKE (2008, 8/10) has evaded you, you should definitely give it a try! STARRED UP is a term means putting a teenager offender to adult prison due to his violent nature, and the film is exclusively shot inside a UK prison and defies any flashbacks to elaborate on the history of main characters. Our protagonist is a 19-year-old boy Eric Love (O'Connell), we follow him being transferred to an adult prison where later we will be informed also resides his father Neville (Mendelssohn) who is serving life-sentence, which forcibly proposes a motive for Eric's unjustifiably savage conduct - he is just a boy looking for his absent father. One might suspect Mackenzie has applied a poetic license to depict a more relent prison environment to give Eric a full gamut of experience before prison officers put their revenge into action in the climate, otherwise, considering how corrupted the system is represented, one doubts Eric can ever survive retribution from the very place.The film charges an engaging pace and a fast editing scheme to offset its claustrophobic setting, Eric is aggressive, bull-headed and seethes with danger and wherever he goes, we become wary about the safety of those who are around, especially the awfully nice jailer Selfy (McDonnell), there are even female guards in a male's prison in UK, what a fair example of equity! The usual disputes among inmates are inferiorly grim compared with the authorities' viciousness under the surface, as Eric's opponents are far less competent to be life-threatening to him. Meanwhile a subplot is about Oliver Baumer (Friend), a voluntary inmate counsellor who organises group sessions for those who have severe violent tendency, prominently save Eric, the rest is all black. Oliver is designed as a ray of sunshine but what is equally intriguing is his back-story, a misfit in the society needs his patients more than they need him. Also the scenario reminiscent of Jacques Audiard's universally praised A PROPHET (2009, 9/10), but STARRED UP's main spotlight is always on the blood bond, a father's redemption to protect his own while the former is a masterful dissection of prison philosophy. O'Connell shines in his career-defining performance, impressively in his physical form and not shies away from nudity scenes and violence, which brings highly realistic impact on screen, Eric's transformation is predictable but he never overdraws the creditability during the process. Australian thespian Ben Mendelsohn, whose inherent criminal flair is put into great use, as Eric's equally hot-tempered father (something definitely runs in the genes), it is a showboating role, and he is perfect in it. Friend, on the contrary, is actually the more complicated character, but he remains unbelievably humble all the way through. It is rewarding to see Mackenzie bring us such a powerful genre cocktail of suspense, drama and affection, only if the aftertaste can be less cloying when things turn out exactly what viewers can possibly imagine, with a feel-good smugness on its tail.
ryanshguard-amazon
Don't know where all the good reviews came from for this bucket of..... The plot is thin and they attempt to shore it up with some of the least realistic fight scenes I have ever seen. Not to mention the incredibly unrealistic hanging. I grow really tired of film makers not even bothering to do any research to make a film at least credible. There's artistic license and then there is plain fantasy. You can't identify with any of the characters and if all prisons were like this we would be saving millions cause all the inmates would be dead in a couple of years.This film just seems to be one long advert for the death penalty.Save yourself the trouble
