Imprisoned

Ex-con gets out of prison tries to do good/revenge theme, is an old plot. Sometimes it works. But it doesn't anywhere here especially with wooden acting, and weak script. Actor names impressive, including John Heard. But we wind up with quish quash. Fishburne is a waste, he was past his prime 20 years ago. And it was almost sad to see John Heard here - aged and overweight in this little BIT part as a cop? What? Also lots of gratuitous violence, and pointless profanity. Don't Waste Your Time.

How does one describe and give review of such an obviously poor movie.....well here goes. First off, this was basically a love story wrapped in hatred and jealousy and topped off with revenge plus a tad bit of guilt and atonement...of course I don't want to spoil the overall plot. It's a common recipe that's been done countless times and sometimes it works brilliantly and sometimes it works out like this film did.....very poor. The script was full of holes, implausable scenarios, unnatural dialog, hollow characters, and forced drama. The action, special effects, and stunt work were unrealistic and almost laughable. The overall production value was worse than a made for TV movie. To finish off, this film was led by some fairly decent acting talent, which was the only reason I watched to begin with....but the script was so bad that no amount of acting talent could help. In fact, I'm really surprised some of them even signed on to this project, they must not have read the script or something. Anyway, I rated this film a 5, which is barely watchable on my scale, so don't waste your time.

Well filmed and acted with some great music but it was quite an ordeal to sit through; If you are feeling depressed or suicidal I would not watch this film as it may push you over the edge.

It does try and examine the prison system, death penalty and many other issues but it is just very bleak and to be honest, in these days of covid and disaster the last thing we need are movies like these to make us feel even more downhearted. It is also noted that it has a tribute to the actor John Heard who was supposed to be in the film but who died before he could make it into the film itself and there is a notice at the end credits which further makes the movie even sadder and more depressing than it otherwise would have been!

To be fair, the movie does have a heart and a message but it is too bleak for me and left me in a dark place after viewing it which does not happen that often these days; even the movie "The Road" did not leave me feeling as bleak than this did but then again perhaps that is a tribute to the movie and the director of this as it was probably what he was angling for, who knows but just do not watch it if you are not ready for some heavy, heavy lifting!

It's the type of story in which good and even is not clear. The vengeance is and I loved that part. Larry Fishburne's villainy is savage. An excellent performance for a decent movie.

I rarely read the reviews before watching the movie, and I'm glad I didn't spoil it with these reviews. This was one of those movies that had you cheering for the wrong things. Give it a watch and decide for yourself. The bad guys are good, and the good guys are all bad.