Music hath charms... in Sam Bathrick's new prison documentary, 16 BARS

We've seen theatre in prison previously -- including Shakespeare behind bars, and once even via the Taviani brothers -- as an aid to the rehabilitation process, so why the hell not try rehab with music? That is what the musician Todd Thomas (better known as the rapper "Speech" from the band Arrested Development) tries to do in the new music-in-prison documentary 16 BARS. "Speech," along with some of the prisoners with whom he works while encouraging and coaching them, manages this surprisingly well -- as do the inmates themselves. Musically, at least. The men have some major problems in some other areas of their rehabilitation.

As directed by Sam Bathrick, shown at left, one of the strengths of this slow-building but finally quite effective doc, is the manner in which it refuses to shy away from the very real and continuing problems the prisoners face as they try their best to work toward rehabilitation.

In many, if not most, cases these guys have a childhood and/or young adulthood of bad training/parenting to overcome in order to even begin any real kind of rehab.

Bathrick and "Speech" concentrate on four inmates in Richmond, Virginia -- three black would-be rappers and one white somewhat-country-sounding prisoner, all of whose stories we slowly learn.

The four prisoners -- Anthony (above), De'vonte, Garland and Teddy (below) -- are all highly problemed (Devonte perhaps has the least problems of the four) but their stories and personalities pull us in and have us rooting for each of them, even as we slowly come to realize the major difficulties facing these men.

Their personal stories vie with the music portions of the documentary for our attention in a manner that, initially at least, seems a bit clunky. By the finale, however, the two have come together in a way that works well both rationally and emotionally.

The song we hear over the final scene, as title cards tell us what has happened to each of these men, provides a kind of uplift to the downbeat news on screen that may make you better understand and appreciate why music outlives all of us in the end. (One of songs by the hugely tattooed Garland, shown above, also reflects this quite well.)

The movie takes its time to percolate and jell -- to badly mix a coffee and pudding metaphor -- but hold on through a few slow scenes and some repetition and you will be duly rewarded. (Shown above, right, is "Speech" Thomas at work with Anthony.)

From Lightyear Entertainment and running 95 minutes, 16 Bars opens theatrically this Friday, November 8, in New York City (at the Village East Cinema) and then on November 15 in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Monica Film Center.

Blu-ray debut for MAZE, Stephen Burke's 1980s-set prison drama of the Irish "Troubles"

Garnering good reviews when it opened theatrically here in the USA this past March, the 2017 movie MAZE seems to have impressed most critics because of what is doesn't do -- giving us the usual "prison break," all-action razamatazz -- as much as for what it actually does, which is to offer a mostly quiet, reflective look at how this particular prison break, the largest in Europe since World War II, was planned and then executed.

As written and directed by Stephen Burke (shown at left), Maze (named for the now demolished British prison) is more much interested in the how and why of the break-out than in the actual thing itself, and -- for more demanding adult audiences, at least -- this pays off via depth of character and more believability that is usual in this genre of film

This is not to say that the prison break itself is not exciting. It most definitely is, and it is filled with the kind of you-are-there intensity, documentary-like camera work, and an absolute realism during which it seems like just about anything could happen -- which is pretty much what does, i.e.: the best laid plans, and all that.

Getting to this point is what takes up most of the movie, and while there are scenes of prisoner confrontation, with both the guards and other prisoners, the relationship that develops between one prisoner, who plans the break (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, above), and the guard he deliberately befriends (Barry Ward, below) is what provides the meat of the movie.

These prisoners planning the break, you see, are part of the Irish Republican Army -- the film takes place after the more famous "hunger strikes" that received world-wide attention at the time -- and so are doubly shunned by both the prison staff and by the British prisoners, all of which makes planning and then executing the escape all the more intriguing and difficult.

The movie looks at events that are now decades past with a kind of  "both sides now" approach that sees neither side as out-and-out villains -- even if, we must conclude, these Irishmen had legitimate grievances that were never properly addressed by the British. If only things could have been viewed more evenhandedly back in the day, peace might have come somewhat sooner. But then, legitimate grievances seldom are handled properly by the folk in power, are they?

The supporting cast is as up-to-snuff as the two leads, and technical aspects as fine, as well. The Blu-ray transfer provided by theatrical distributor Lightyear Entertainment is good, and the extras here include a director's commentary and a bonus short film -- titled 81 -- from Stephen Burke.

Distributed here in the USA via MVD Visual/MDV Entertainment Group and running just 93 minutes, Maze hit the street on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this week and is now available for purchase and (I hope) rental.

Unnecessary and so-so remake of the year: Michael Noer/Aaron Guzikowski's PAPILLON

TrustMovies does not in any way want to demean or make seem less awful the experiences of those poor prisoners condemned to life (and often death) in the penal colony of French Guiana, which was composed of several prison "camps," one worse than the next. The common name given for this multi-prison was Devil's Island, any escape from which was thought impossible.

Still, it must be said that sitting through this oft-times interminable two-hours-and-seventeen-minute, "Let's- keep-trying-to-escape-from-this-hell-hole-until-we-go-nuts!" remake of PAPILLON felt like a prison sentence in itself for this particular viewer.

The original Papillon, which arrived on screen back in 1973 -- directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and offering the stunt-casting pairing of that golden boy narcissist Steve McQueen and Oscar-winner/scene stealer, Dustin Hoffman -- was no great shakes in itself, clocking in even longer at two hours and thirty-one minutes.

In the new version , directed by Danish filmmaker Michael Noer (shown at right), with a screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski, which he adapted from both the memoirs by Devil's Island prisoner Henri Charrière and the original screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. the shakes are a good deal less. Just about everything concerning this latest Papillon seems adequate but little more.

This adequacy begins with the film's two stars, both of whom I have greatly enjoyed elsewhere -- Charlie Hunnam (above) in just about everything in which he has ever appeared, and Rami Malek (below), whom I know best from cable TV's fun and fierce Mr. Robot series.

Mr. Hunnam spends his time either playing action hero or showing us his soulful/dour side, while Mr. Maleck handles his weak-little-nerd-with-glasses role as, well, a weak little nerd with glasses. Neither actor has much of a chance to do more, given the one-dimensional screenplay which gets the story told but not much else. (The occasionally soaring musical score, by David Buckley, seems to take the place of acting or writing in terms of pointing up the important moments here.)

The scenery is pretty enough -- seaside, island, jungle stuff -- and the director and screenwriter cram in as much glamour, sex and sin as possible in the first few minutes. Because, after that, it's all prison-plus-escape-attempts, all the time.

The tale itself is indeed one of the greatest "great escape" stories ever told, even in this not-so-hot version. Perhaps the 45 years between the release of the original film and this remake will introduce a bunch more movie-goers to M. Charrière and his semi-fictional story.

Papillon, released by Bleecker Street, opens nationwide this Friday, August 24. I'll post South Florida theaters once they're sent to me. Meanwhile, you can click here and then scroll down and click on FIND THEATERS & TICKETS to view the screening locations nearest you.

José María Cabral's WOODPECKERS, a prison melodrama via the Dominican Republic, opens

It's been awhile since TrustMovies has seen a decent film set in a Latino prison (the 2012 Get the Gringo may have been the last one), so this new movie from Dominican filmmaker José María Cabral proves, for awhile anyway, a welcome change of pace. Taking place in one not-so-hot prison in the Dominican Republic, and then for its final half hour or so in another, even worse, behind-bars venue, WOODPECKERS (Carpenteros) acquaints us with the plight of a new inmate named Julián, played by the charismatic Haitian-born, Dominican-raised actor Jean Jean. As Julián and we learn the ropes in this new environment, we discover that, as ever, these ropes include mostly the usual: the pecking order, cruel guards, good guys and the bad, crummy food and lodging, and one oddity that stands out from the rest.

That would be the sign language the inmates use to communicate from afar with the female inmates in the prison next door, which makes these men the Woodpeckers of the movie's title. (How this name came about is also explained to us via the usual exposition.)

Señor Cabral, shown at right, does a good job of immediately submerging us into this milieu and quickly setting up the situation in which his protagonist (the svelte M. Jean, pictured below, left) and antagonist (a beefy, bonkers inmate named Manaury, played by the excellent Ramón Emilio Candelario, below, right) are pitted against each other. The reason for their antagonism is, of course, the woman -- Yanelly -- with whom Manaury has been "woodpecking." (And, yes, she's the pretty, spirited spitfire of all those women-in-prison movies you know and love.) When Manaury, who's always misbehaving, is sent to a place where he can no longer visually connect with her, he teaches Julián how to do this for him. Guess what happens?

Shucks: you already have! So from here, we move from threats to actual physical harm, as our new twosome (that's Judith Rodriguez Perez as Yanelly, below, left) moves farther from that nasty third wheel. All this is filmed with plenty of panache and pizzazz, and the performances from the entire cast are believable and up-to-snuff.

What becomes a problem is the coincidence that keeps popping up -- would an inmate so casually toss his prized cell phone on the cot then leave the room so it could be easily stolen? -- as well as the all-out melodramatic crescendo with which the movie closes, in which every last expected emotion is wrung from every last expected situation.

Now, some of  you may easily fall for all this (The New York Times reviewer certainly did), but I guess I've just seen too much of this too often to wholeheartedly give over again. Woodpeckers is fun, however, and energetic and full of enough incident to keep you relatively hooked -- the fixing of a broken air conditioner is one such event -- even if the 106-minute running time is a tad long for this kind of film.

From Outsider Pictures, in Spanish with English subtitles, the movie opens tomorrow in  the New York City area at the AMC Empire 25, Regal's UA Kaufman Astoria Stadium 14 and the Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas in the Bronx, with a limited national release to follow. Here in South Florida it will open next Friday, September 22, at Miami's Tower Theater and AMC's Aventura 24. Click here and scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates, theaters and cities.

Soderbergh's back -- with the smart, fast, funny but low-key frolic, LOGAN LUCKY

Steven Soderburgh (shown below) said goodbye to movies a few years back -- but not to cable TV, for which he'd already directed Behind the Candelabra and soon would oversee The Knick. Now, like Frank Sinatra and his many good-bye concerts and recordings, the filmmaker is back. And if his latest -- LOGAN LUCKY -- is any indication, he's simply gotten all that much better during his flirtation with those premium channels. Over the past couple of decades, TrustMovies has been up-and-down regarding Soderburgh's work. Some of his most successful -- those Oceans movies and especially Traffic (his mediocre remake of one of the best-ever British television series) and the more recent Magic Mike -- have been among my least favorites.

Logan Lucky, I think, is one of Soderburgh's best. Maybe the best. Among this filmmaker's biggest strengths is his ability to match his style (never a hugely showy thing) to the particular atmosphere and content to which he's currently involved. Thus we get the Oceans movies' gloss, The Underneath's noir-osity, The Good German's sense of time and place, Erin Brockovich's documentary feel, and Haywire's speedy, lo-calorie smarts. Though Logan Lucky is a heist movie (as were the Oceans), it is set in what we might fondly call the redneck territory of NASCAR racing, among the lower-, middle- and upper-classes of our nation's no-one-would-mistake-them-for-classy citizens. Hence, his film, which is supremely well-written (though it is credited to one, Rebecca Blunt, the IMDB says that this name is likely a pseudonym), has the slow-but-sure look, feel, sound and movement of that down-home place and people. The movie may take it sweet time to unfurl, but, boy, does it deliver 'dem goods!

It also gives Channing Tatum (above) another great role to inhabit, which he does in spades, playing the careful, caring dad who, like so many Americans these days, is having employment trouble. (That's the sweet young actress, Farrah Mackenzie, above, who plays his daughter.)

To solve our hero, Jimmy's, financial problems, he and his Iraq War-wounded brother, Clyde (another fine job in another unusual role by Adam Driver, above, left), conspire to rob the NASCAR racetrack vault. This is of course ridiculous, but so cleverly is the convoluted screenplay conceived and executed, with Soderburgh taking just enough time to explain what we need to know when we need to know it, that we're suckered in and then hooked from beginning through the very exciting heist itself, and on to the to the film's funny climax and quite fabulous, if quietly ironic, denouement.

Along for the ride is such a huge and mostly memorable cast that I don't begin to have time to list them all. But, in the movie's biggest hoot of a joke, the end credits herald the "introduction" of an actor by the name of Daniel Craig. Yes, that classy Brit-and-Bond-ish Daniel Craig, above, in a role the likes of which you will not have seen this very capable performer previously essay. Hillary Swank (below) makes a very late-in-the-game entrance, too, and she provides a good deal of quietly determined fun.

I hope this movie is a huge success, but I do have some doubts. Its heist plot is so complicated that I fear a mainstream American audience may not be able to easily or properly follow it. So concentrate, please. There are plenty of funny, exciting, clever moments along the way to keep you occupied, as well as all those name actors popping up and doing their smart thing smartly.

From Bleecker Street and Fingerprint Releasing (Soderbergh's own firm, which you can read more about by clinking the preceding link), Logan Lucky opens nationwide this Friday, August 18. Here in South Florida, you can see it all over the place: In the Miami area at the AMC Sunset Place 24 Theatres, AMC Hialeah 12, AMC Aventura Mall 24, AMC Tamiami 18, AMC Pompano Beach 18, Cobb Dolphin Cinema, Cobb Hialeah Grand 18, Cobb Miami Lakes 17, CMX Brickell City Center, Cineopolis Grove, Regal The Falls, Regal Oakwood, Regal Kendall Village 16, Regal Westfork, Regal Southland Mall, and Regal South Beach 18.

In Ft. Lauderdale it will play the AMC Coral Ridge 10 Theatres, Classic Gateway, Silverspot Coconut Creek, Cineapolis Deerfield, Cinemark Paradise 24, Thunderbird Drive-In, Paragon Ridge Plaza 8, Regal Magnolia Place, Regal Cypress Creek, Regal Broward 12, Regal Sawgrass.

In West Palm Beach/Boca/Delray and further north areas, look for it at the Living Room Theater, Regal Shadowood 16, Movies of Delray 5/Movies of Lake Worth, Cinemark Boynton Beach 14, AMC City Place 20, Cobb Downtown at the Mall Gardens, Paragon Wellington 10, Regal Royal Palm Beach 18, Regency Square 8, AMC St Lucie 14, AMC Indian River 24 , Palm 16, Regal Treasure Coast Mall 16, Majestic 11, Cinepolis Jupiter 14. Normally, I'd provide links for the all these many theaters, but I need to get to bed by midnight for an early day tomorrow....

Wherever you live across the USA, to locate a theater near you, click here. 

Pierre Godeau's DOWN BY LOVE: the old set-in-prison, forbidden-love-story told anew

TrustMovies would guess that just about every country has its own tale -- probably many of them -- like this one (god know, the U.S. has had its share down the decades) in which a prisoner and a prison guard/warden/ worker fall in love/lust and get it on, with consequences that vary from unpleasant to all-out death and destruction. DOWN BY LOVE (Eperdument). Pierre Godeau's intelligent and mostly riveting new film, based on a true tale of just this sort of situation that occurred in France some five years ago, is most interesting for what it leaves out.

M. Godeau (shown at right), who both directed and adapted his screenplay from the book about the case co-written by Florent Gonçalves (the actual warden in the case), seems to me to have tried to give both of the lovers' points of view so as not to weigh things too heavily in favor of the warden. Godeau does not, for instance, deign to let us know for what crime, exactly, our heroine has been imprisoned. (Some research on my part leads me to conclude that the girl had acted as the "lure" in entrapping a young Jewish man who was then kidnapped, tortured and died at the hands of a gang of thugs who were Muslims. That case, in turn, was the basis of another good film covered here two years back entitled 24 Days.)

The relationship between the warden and his prisoner is first shown and then grown via small increments that demonstrate the connection between the two, which appears quite mutual. Before long, the passion is so strong and intense that it begins to topple all else, including intelligent behavior on the part of the warden, if not the prisoner -- who, after all, remains "under his thumb" because of her status. In many ways, however, it is clear that she calls the shots.

In the leading roles are two César-winning actors of growing international renown: Adèle Exarchopoulos (of Blue Is the Warmest Color) and Guillaume Gallienne (practically unrecognizable here as the man who gave us Me, Myself and Mum). Their performances are reason enough to see the film: rich, strange and always believable. If you've ever been "head-over-heels," you'll understand perfectly the actions of both characters, even as you roll your eyes in recognition of the stupidity of it all.

By concentrating on the ups and downs of the love relationship above all else, M. Godeau ensures that we'll stick with the tale, no matter how egregious some of the actions are. So good are both actors at convincing us of their absolute dedication to this "amor fou" (even if the motives of one of the two are often foggy) we -- just as do many of the film's supporting characters -- forgive their idiocy, even as we realize that there will probably be hell to pay.

Down the decades, the French have proven awfully good at love stories -- crazy love in particular -- and this is one of the better examples of the (sub)genre. Godeau's attention to detail, as well as his refusal to divulge too much, carries the day. His ending is especially succulent. He doesn't bother to tell us what happens to these characters, as so many based-on-real-events movies choose to do. But just one look at the final expression of the faces of our two lovebirds makes everything clear enough.

From Distrib Films US in French with English subtitles, and running a long but not too-long 110 minutes, Down by Love reaches the USA next Tuesday, January 31, on iTunes and then the following Monday, February 6 via Google Play, Amazon, Comcast, Charter, and Vudu.

Girls in prison, Iranian-style, in Mehrdad Oskouei's surprising STARLESS DREAMS

It begins with the usual, as the perp is fingerprinted and then those "felon" photos are quickly taken, as we follow that prisoner through the process. Except that here, the felon is a girl in her late-teen years, and the location is Iran. Uh-oh. But wait. After viewing STARLESS DREAMS, the new documentary from Iranian filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei, rather than experiencing the usual "isn't-prison-awful!" sense you get from so many incarceration movies, you are more likely to feel that this may be the safest, kindest place for these girls in all of Iran.

Mr. Oskouei, shown at right, was evidently given extraordinary access to the prison and its inmates, and he was also able to gain the trust of both the girls and their guards in a rather extraordinary way. Consequently, his documentary is full of what certainly seems like "real life," as the girls chatter and laugh and play games and enjoy what seems -- against their experience in the outside world, either at home with their families or as runaways -- a comparatively idyllic existence.

We meet this gaggle of girls piecemeal and learn only haltingly about each one and her previous-to-prison life. It is not even clear exactly why some of these girls are here -- perhaps for simply running away or being on the outs with their blood family. In other cases we do learn why (patricide is one reason), and yet the details for even this render the murderer at the very least a kind of self-defense victim.

The documentary is often gorgeously filmed: sharp, clear, colorful and with an eye for both detail and beauty (where the latter can be found, at least). Oskouei also offers some lovely compositions and framing.

What makes the film so special, however, is the friendship the girls clearly feel for each other (they share such similar dreadful family backgrounds) and the liveliness and high spirits they so often exhibit.  Which point up even more strongly that the place of Iranian women, in both society and the family, is simply awful.

"Why are you crying, 651?" asks the filmmaker at one point. "Because her story is the same as my story," the girl answers, adding that she is called 651 because, "that is the number of grams they found on me." "How will your family welcome you home? another girl is asked. "With chains and a beating," she answers.

Many of the girls (perhaps most) want to stay in prison. Once you've heard their "family" stories, you'll understand why. They put on a sort of puppet show (below) during which they can hide behind those puppets/masks and say what they think. Yet, they do not seem at all shy about saying this even to a cleric who comes to visit, to whom they deliver some hard questions about god and justice. What we hear of his answers does not in the least suffice.

The movie cannot help but be ultra-feminist against the all-encompassing patriarchy that is Islam and Iran. As to her future, one young woman predicts that she will die in the gutter one day. "Don't you want to fight for a better life," the filmmaker asks? "Society is stronger than I am," she answers him.

One girl, at last reunited with her family (one of the few that seems even halfway bearable), tells us, "I'm just so happy: It feels strange." What happens to the couple of girls who actually go back to their families? We never learn the outcome of this or about what happens to any of the other girls. And the fact that the filmmaker was given such access to the prison does make me wonder if perhaps he was not expected to portray that prison in a good light.

Still, what he has given us in this portrait of Iran's younger generation of females is, while deeply disturbing, also something to cherish. From The Cinema Guild and running a brisk 76 minutes, the documentary opens this Friday, January 20, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. On Jan. 26 & 28: it will play the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; on February 10 it opens at the University of Wisconsin Cinematheque in Madison, and on April 14 at the Colorado State University/ACT Human Rights Film Festival in Fort Collins, Colorado.