Pssst, want to check out Fortune and Men's Eyes in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 102 min.
- Directors
- Harvey Hart, Jules Schwerin
- Genre
- Drama
- Rating *
- 6.8
- Votes *
- 301
- Checks
- 17
- Favs
- 0
- Dislikes
- 0
- Favs/checks
- 0.0% (0:17)
- Favs/dislikes
- 1:1
Top comments
-
jm_london
Back in 1971, this was probably a great, provocative and thought provoking film about power and sex in male prisons. Nowadays, it's just an O.K. film about these topics. We've seen the subject been used again and again so watching this film in 2016 deprives it from its main strengths: Surprise and shock.
However, not all is lost. The four main characters that share the cell are very interesting and well played, and their well directed scenes together are engaging. Queenie steals every single scene he is in and he has some of the best lines ever written for a play or the screen. I suggest watching this film before or after The Kiss of the Spider Woman and comparing Queenie to Luis Molina. While William Hurt is a better actor, the character of Queenie is (in my opinion) more realistic and believable.
Talking about believeness, (spoiler) the film has a major flaw. Smitty's change is too quick and sudden and Rocky surrenders too easily. I'm not saying this would NEVER happen, what I mean is that it wouldn't have happened in the supposed time frame of the action. It would have been a gradual and subtle process, not the result of one conversation.(spoiler)
Fans of the prison genre will like it particularly for its "historical" value. Gays will like it because of the sexual tension all through the film. All others... give it a try just in case. 7 years 11 months ago