Storyline
Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.
Directors
Cast
Danny Trejo, Tom Arnold, Afemo Omilami, Steve Buscemi, Edward Bunker, Mickey Rourke, Mark Webber, Seymour Cassel, Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Chris Bauer, Mark Boone Junior, John Heard, Mark Engelhardt, Victor Pagan, Jake La Botz, Steven Randazzo, J.C. Quinn, Ernest Harden Jr., Rockets Redglare, Michael Buscemi
Trailer
Reviews
80
Village Voice
Tender, poignant, and homoerotically charged, this complicated father-son relationship is brought to life by two brilliant actors and a director who's canny enough to give them all the room they need.
80
One of the least sensationalistic--and therefore, more unsettlingly plausible--visions of prison life ever transfigured into big-screen drama.
75
New York Post
A wonderfully acted, strangely low-key prison movie.
75
Christian Science Monitor
Buscemi's directing blends hard-hitting visual qualities with great emotional energy.
70
Willem Dafoe steals the picture with his comic timing.
