Well, for openers, I am amazed that this movie got such a mediocre rating. This is one of the most poignant dramas about despair and emptiness that i have ever seen. I know the focus is on a person who is in prison for life trying to find some meaning for going on and channeling that fever into acting it out in plays. But, i began to sense that this movie was speaking about every person out there that is "doing time" in their own respective lives and feeling like they have nothing to shoot for or any direction to go. If you watch this movie you see that these ex-cons are still struggling with the shackles of prison life, even when they are no longer there. As one of them observes "you hear stories of guys actually wanting to go back. The brotherhood of the doomed." This kinda struck me as a metaphor about peoples lives and how even when they get a chance to break free, they feel the pull to go back to the groove they are so accustomed to. Now that i have given my philosophical two cents, let me talk about the movie in more detail. "Weeds" is a compelling tale about how a bunch of misfit ex-cons are trying to strive for a better life by telling the world, through performing plays, what it feels like to be in prison. Nick Nolte gives a top notch performance as the leader of the troupe that needs, not just wants, to express himself through the stage. The other actors, Lane Smith and Joe Montanea, give compelling support, ex specially William Forsthye who plays a two-bit shoplifter that has found a new life in the theatre. I think the musical numbers add a serial quality that uplifts this movie to new heights and the direction is quite good in telling this story. Overall its not the best movie ever made but it certainly is a well crafted one.
