Animal Factory (2000)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Steve Buscemi

Writers (WGA):

Edward Bunker (novel)
Edward Bunker (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 August 2000 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

On the Inside the Rules Are Brutal And the Stakes Are High

Plot:

A young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Parole | Drugs | Marijuana | Gang

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Willem Dafoe	...	Earl Copen
Edward Furlong	...	Ron Decker
Danny Trejo	...	Vito
Mark Boone Junior	...	Paul Adams
Seymour Cassel	...	Lt. Seeman
Mickey Rourke	...	Jan the Actress
Tom Arnold	...	Buck Rowan
John Heard	...	James Decker
Chris Bauer	...	Bad Eye
Rockets Redglare	...	Big Rand
Jake La Botz	...	Jesse (as Jake LaBotz)
Mark Engelhardt	...	T.J.
Edward Bunker	...	Buzzard
Victor Pagan	...	Psycho Mike
Ernest Harden Jr.	...	Richland

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, violence and drug use.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:16 (video premiere) | Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Animal Productions LLC

Trivia:

During the show scene, a vocalist is musically accompanied by a violinist and accordionist - the singer is Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) and the song which he sings a version of is "Rapture" which can be found on the band's self-titled album from 2000.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ron's hair when he first meets Earl.

Quotes:

Earl Copen: Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.

Soundtrack:

Lay Down the Bottle

Low key but interesting prison drama. Recommended.

As a fan of Steve Buscemi's underrated 'Trees Lounge', his acting, and of many of his co-stars in this movie, I eagerly anticipated watching 'Animal Factory'. I thought it was going to be a confronting and violent prison story, mainly because of the involvement of Edward Bunker ('Runaway Train', 'Reservoir Dogs'), who adapts his own novel (with the help of scriptwriter John Steppling, who also co-wrote the excellent '52 Pick-Up'). However, the movie was a lot more low key, character driven and less confrontational than I had expected. Even so, it's still very good.

Buscemi himself only has a small acting role in the movie (as does Bunker), the real stars being Willem Dafoe ('Light Sleeper', ) as a savvy long term convict, and Edward Furlong ('Pecker') as the young inmate who becomes his protege. Dafoe and Furlong are supported by an impressive cast of character actors, including Buscemi cronies Seymour Cassel ('Rushmore'), Mark Boone, Jr ('Memento') and the late Rockets Redglare ('Down By Law'), all 'Trees Lounge' veterans, ex-con tough guy Danny Trejo ('Heat'), John Heard ('After Hours'), and impressive cameos from Tom Arnold ('True Lies') as a psycho rapist, and Mickey Rourke ('Barfly') as a flamboyant transvestite. Rourke, one of the finest actors of his generation, will hopefully get his career back on track if the solid work he displays here and his notable cameo in 'The Pledge' is anything to go by.

'Animal Factory' is a first rate effort from Buscemi, who joins Sean Penn and Vincent Gallo as the most promising actors turned directors currently making American movies. More power to him, and I hope his next project makes it to the screen sometime soon. In today's current climate of cinematic mediocrity and childish blockbusters we need more film makers like them with passion, intelligence and integrity.