L.A. Prisoner

An absolute classic, with Daltrey portraying McVicar to a T. One of the best British gangster flicks, that will undoubtedly have taught Guy Ritchie a thing or two. Directed in such a way that the viewers sympathy lies unequivocally with the criminal, it relates a message without being pious. Very refreshing.

I'm a big fan of prison dramas and for some reason the ones made around this era seem to be the best in terms of quality: they're usually the most down-to-earth and realistic, and often hard-hitting with it. MCVICAR is a film with a lot of baggage attending – not only is it a true story, it stars one of Britain's biggest music stars, Roger Daltrey, in the titular role. Could it live up to expectations?

I think so. In essence, this is the British answer to Eastwood's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ – a story of one man's journey to escape the mundane nature of prison life. Yes, there are the expected clichés and yes, the last act of the film is far less interesting and suspenseful than what's come before, but for the most part MCVICAR is a film that does the business. Director Tom Clegg, later a mainstay of television with the SHARPE movies, does an excellent job and I think this is the highlight of his resume. It's a taut, compelling and funny crime film.

Great cast, too: Daltrey is decent as McVicar, playing up the hard-man persona with plenty of guts; Adam Faith is solid as the good-guy prisoner with plans of freedom. I also enjoyed Billy Murray as McVicar's buddy on the outside, the brief cameo from an incredibly haggard-looking Ian Hendry, and Steven Berkoff as another inherently sinister type. Okay, it doesn't really offer anything you haven't seen before, but that doesn't stop MCVICAR from being a highly entertaining movie.

Great film, great soundtrack, Daltry is awesome! They dont make them like this anymore.

McVicar is the kind of movie that founds in criminal lifestyle a way to communicate its moral intend. The plot is quite typical because the intention is to show that, no matter how exciting or bizarre been an outlaw is, the criminal never succeeds. Based on a true story, the most interesting parts of the movie are the escape of McVicar from High Security Prison while a rock piece sounds on the back, and the assault of the bank, brief but consistent. The soundtrack is good, with a certain Who sound in big part of it and Daltrey's performance is really surprising, considering that he doesn't overact at all. But the whole movie doesn't look like a superb production, it's pretty much the same in this type of movie: a crime life that traps the leading character till the end, waiting always for a possible redemption that-at least not in this case-never comes. Although the movie is not boring either, is a well told story, nothing less, nothing more.

I nearly forgot this tremendous crime film from UK. It was made in the early eighties, the same year as LONG GOOD FRIDAY, also a terrific gem. This one was made by Tom Clegg a future prolific British director, and starred by a non actor - such a shame for the movie business, because Roger Daltrey is far far above being convincing in the lead role. He could have made many other films of this kind. The prison sequences, in the first part, are however a bit lame, the inmates picture a bit too smooth. I expected something tougher, compared to the rest of the film. I think it was too cliché, too easy described. Excellent film however.