"Lock Up" never appeared on my radar until hearing David Morrell praise Stallone's performance on the "First Blood" commentary. And he does do a pretty kick-ass job.
Stallone stars as a terminally upbeat con serving out the last of his sentence in a country club penitentiary. But his cakewalks is cut short when the vicious warden (Donald Sutherland) of a nearby hellhole has him "transferred" to serve out the remainder under his thumb. Sutherland's still nursing a years-old grudge, and has made it his life's ambition to break Stallone's indomitable spirit.
"Lock Up" is your standard prison movie, albeit charged by John Flynn's macho direction (sentimentalized by Conti's score). But the tropes are all here and accounted for. What gives this particular prison movie a new spin is the psychological thriller aspect between Stallone and Sutherland. And it remains a hard-edged drama right up until the last fifteen minutes when things turn full-on action movie.
Still, as Stallone movies go, it's one of his better performances.
6/10
Stallone stars as a terminally upbeat con serving out the last of his sentence in a country club penitentiary. But his cakewalks is cut short when the vicious warden (Donald Sutherland) of a nearby hellhole has him "transferred" to serve out the remainder under his thumb. Sutherland's still nursing a years-old grudge, and has made it his life's ambition to break Stallone's indomitable spirit.
"Lock Up" is your standard prison movie, albeit charged by John Flynn's macho direction (sentimentalized by Conti's score). But the tropes are all here and accounted for. What gives this particular prison movie a new spin is the psychological thriller aspect between Stallone and Sutherland. And it remains a hard-edged drama right up until the last fifteen minutes when things turn full-on action movie.
Still, as Stallone movies go, it's one of his better performances.
6/10