Against the Wall

The film does a decent job of portraying the real events and a few captions at the end credits tell us of some of the aftermath that follows. There is some decent acting from the main characters of Jackson and MacLachian and good back up jobs from the lesser roles. Like many true story re-enactments, the fact that what your watching is more or less true takes it film up a notch or two. So the thing you take away from this film is that this actually happened and not that its a brilliant film. However, given that it doesn't stray too far from the truth, it's a great visual addition to just reading about it. Well worth watching as it's shocking, well acted, pretty true to its source and it's by far the best TV film you'll ever watch.

I was an extra in this movie and I was just amazed by John Frankenheimer. We just filled seats in the bar as guards' wives, but he came over and explained who we were and told us about the lives of these people. He told us that the average guard's salary was $13,000. He told me he loved my face (which believe me is not lovable), probably because the part called for us to be bored and disgusted and I was very good at that. I just could not believe that the director went into such detail with us. I was just there one day but my husband was in several scenes, working every day, and he was likewise impressed with Mr. Frankenheimer.

And as for the comment about the people of Nashville deserving better--Nashville and its people suck. I was never so glad to get out of anywhere. If, as one comment put it, Mr. Frankenheimer was a bear, maybe it was because he expected people to WORK.

"Against the Wall" is an amazing portrayal of the uprising that took place at the Attica prison in the 1970's New York. It is an important film that shows, that while the uprising caused the loss of life among prisoners, staff, and civilian personnel, it was what reformed the American prison system for the rest of time. It is an important legacy and stepping stone in both American history and in the civil rights movement that needs to be told. The director did a fantastic portrayal of the true life situation to the screen in the HBO made for TV movie, which has since moved to DVD. Prison life was changed because of this one event and because of what these men stood for.

Against the Wall is another one of those movies that just slipped away. Its about the true story of the take-over of Attica Prison by the in-mates in 1971 and is seen through the eyes of a novice prison warden (Kyle MacLachlan).

Although made for cable, what make this brilliant movie different from the others are the incredibly brutal prison scenes and unsettling violence (one scene has an unlucky wardens' head slammed between two iron doors) and the brutality of the film, along with the nudity, may turn off some viewers.

The acting is some of the best I've ever seen. The characters are not stereotyped and are actually quite believable. Samuel L Jackson, in particular is a highlight as a black inmate while Kyle MacLachlan is just as good as a sympathetic warden. These performances give the film a lot of depth and the bonding between these two is very powerful.

John Frankenheimer direction is incredibly good and that sets the mood for this powerful and sad movie. Check it out but be aware that this is not a happy movie. ***/****

For a TV movie, this is quite good. It's the true story of the Attaca prison break, which caused a hell of a ruckus back in the seventies and started all sorts of prison rights and liberation talk. The film is a tautly trimmed, suspenseful and well acted production with a good cast including Sam L. Jackson and Kyle MacLachlan.

A rookie prison guard at Attaca finds himself immersed in the awful treatment of the prisoners, and has a hard time reprimanding the prisoners. He's then unwittingly slung into a violent prison break, and held hostage by the prisoners.

There are some unnecessarily offensive and crude moments in the film, which are not relevant and are entirely superfluous. The violence is quite impactful, and the film deserves a high rating.

Six out of ten.