Shot Caller

i don't think i can really express how good this film is in words, but ill do my best...

Its about more than just a man screwed by life, it about loyalty and family, and where you will ever go to protect those you love.

I must say, this one is on my top 3 of the year. Brutal and deep film that touches you.

The title is the only thing that's not quite there with this movie - it suggests a sort of b-grade thriller. But what this movie actually delivers is a taut, razor-sharp story about how someone's life can go horribly wrong.

This is the only thing I've seen NCW in apart from Game Of Thrones and I was blown away by his range - he's in full-on acting mode here, entirely believable, and hard as nails.

One of the best movies of 2017.

I am blown away after watching this masterpiece after hearing a friend talk so highly of it. I asked them what it was about, and they said "just go watch it". Well, every now and then a film comes along that will leave an impact on you that will make it hard for you to forget. This film is one of those.

This story was told with such realism, even the actors did not seem like they were acting. At first I was hesitant when I saw that Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau - Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones was cast, but wow did he nail his role. His transition from a white collar to jailed convict was perfect. Even Jon Bernthal's acting was great. For that matter, every character was cast perfectly and were very convincing in their roles.

The writing and screenplay is what truly made this film so great. It's a story told really well, transitioning back and forth at just the right time from back-story to current time, although I wish it had opened with the white-collar scene first, then how it led into the incarceration, and then additional back stories filled in. Had the transitioning not happened, it would have been the best documentary-type film I've ever seen, and felt even more realistic. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the way the story was told as well as the unpredictability and surprise twists. By the end, I was left wanting more!

Stunt-man turned writer/director (also both for this film) Ric Roman Waugh did an outstanding job converting the screenplay to a very convincing on-screen masterpiece.

The cinematography and editing were perfect, but the score could have been a little better.

I hope that based on the ending, there is at least a part 2 that comes out very soon. It's a well deserved 9.5 rounded up to a 10/10 from me. So now, just go watch it!

It showed a lot of potential with the premise, but it spends most of its time hovering between wanting to be a smart character study of how a businessman can become a ruthless gangster through prison, and a violent action/thriller that focuses on gangs and how they operate. By not fully committing to either, some potency is lost. But is it bad? Not at all. In fact, with a captivating central performance of a complex character from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and enough interesting ideas to hold your attention (particularly when it comes to the effects and inner-workings of a prison), it's still pretty entertaining.

There's the movie you close when it ends. You don't look at the credits, you just close everything and go on about other things.

And there's the movie that lingers. The one that glued you till the very last scene, and then it cuts to the credits and you watch all of it.

Shot Caller is the latter. Stuntman turned writer/director Ric Roman Waugh signs here a beautiful, poignant and powerful movie. The story is compelling, easy to understand. It shines in its simplicity, with a cast that leads the narrative like masters.

I highly recommend you watch it.