Lockdown

Right - another prison flick. Another movie about a young black man, in this case 3 young black men, wrongly accused of a crime, convicted and sent to prison. The statement behind that injustice is bold enough. It's a bit "Boyz n the Hood" up to that point. Once it hits the prison - there are few comparisons to match some of the intensity (how's that for ambiguity?).

This movie has a few valuable segments worth the rest of its deficits. A few scenes may take you to a place you do not want ever to be. There are moments in the prison scenes where the actors are so credible it might as well be real. The directing had flickers of greatness to capture that intensity.

But just like that, in a flicker you're back to watching a $2 film worth a penny. Just watch it for the acting and directing behind a few prison scenes that fairly represent "Lockdown".

Many references to HBO's Oz have been made about this movie. The two are similar, but the gangs focused on here are limited to the Blacks and Aryans. The colorful actors are convincing in their roles. Master P comes across as a worthy heavy. Craig T. Jones provides the great contrast of clean cut protagonist. With a plethera of unwatchable exploitive black urban videos, Lockdown is a high quality cut above.

I was eager to see Lockdown as its a movie i quite simply missed in the past. Finally got around to grabbing it on DVD for cheap and it was certainly a good movie and I'm pleased to have it in the collection but being a huge fan of the old HBO Gritty Prison drama OZ and a fan of Prison Break this did definitely have its weaknesses. At times it dragged on and just didn't always have the full hard hitting grit i thought it would have. I did expect more from this movie. It was great to have a ghetto based prison movie as i have not seen one in a long time - the last one i saw was Prison Song with Q Tip (great film!) Lockdown gets a 7 out of 10 from me. A good watch but not enough gritty surprises it was quite predictable.

Yes, this is a brutal film. It's scary to us who are not criminals or have not been around these types for any length of time. Since I am a fan of HBO's "OZ," I felt that I'd partake in this much talked about flick. I ordered the DVD and I'm pleased to have it in my collection, mainly because it introduced me to a couple of really good actors. Bill Nunn, as Charles, the college scout, I've seen for years on TV and in the movies.

Richard T. Jones was new to me. If he is going to be a star, he shouldn't do what Sidney Poitier did: ignore his own lighting. The star MUST always be lit correctly, especially if he is darker skinned. Mr. Jones is a good-looking leading man type and he should "tend to his business" and make sure HE looks good on that screen.

"Lockdown" is an okay movie. Gabriel Casseus as Cashmere was appropriately ignorant and vacuous. His "don't care" attitude is pervasive in poor neighborhoods where people feel helpless and hopeless in America. It was not surprising that he, a drug dealer, with a violent demeanor ended up in jail and adapted easily to that macabre world behind bars.

Of course it was different for Dre (De'Aundre Bonds) as the sensitive brother of Jones' girlfriend, Krista (Melissa De Sousa). Dre is not gay, but his good looks scream "woman" to brutes behind bars. He is viciously raped by two Aryan thugs the first day he arrives in the big house. He is immediately frightened into becoming Graffiti's "bitch," sexually available at "his man's" will. Graffiti (David "Shark" Fralick) is a muscular and insane drug dealer who is in competition with the head black dealer, Clean Up (played by rapper, Master P) who is a psychotic, disgusting character who would kill you for a nickle, no problem. His speech is as brutal as the part he portrays.

The movie is about survival, and that is what Avery (Jones) has to do, if he wants any kind of life and future. Yes, the characters are sterotypical, but aren't they always in this kind of vehicle?

The sex was played down in this, as it is in all American-made prison films. Americans are very squemish about man/man sex and DO NOT want to see it on the screen. Two woman. That's okay. When are we going to grow up?

If you liked "OZ" you might like this. But be prepared. It's not an easy watch.

If you like 'Oz' you'll enjoy this movie.Predominately a African American cast,this is one of those movies white america will not embrace,and because of that it will get undeserved negative criticism.If you've been behind bars,you will relate and love this movie more than the average person.But even if you haven't been in the pen,this flic is entertaining with some real scenes that depict life when your freedom is taken away. ****/5.