Prisonniers sans chaînes

This can be a tough video to find, but when I finally did it turned out to be well worth the effort. This is a great film, it rates right up with "Citizen X" as one of the best made for HBO movies. Laurence Fishburne is terrific as Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con living in inner L.A. and attempting to carve a new life for himself while just barely getting by. Fishburne gives the character real grit, anger, and pride, but most of all he shows us a man who is committed to living life honorably after making some very serious mistakes. You can feel the frustration of a man who is trying to live right in a world that is seldom fair, but he won't give in to the temptation to make an easy buck or to compromise his principles. The film is presented as a series of intertwining stories about the people in Fortlow's life, and the other actors in the film are superb - there is never a moment that doesn't feel real. The stories all have meaning - love, prejudice, empathy, sorrow, friendship, honor and death. It's not often that a film says this much without seeming to, and it's not often you see a film this moving. If your video store doesn't have it, be like Socrates and just keep coming back and protesting loudly until they do.

I came across this movie late one Sunday on HBO. I only got to see the last hour of it, but I was astounded by how moving it was. I tracked down the showtime and made time to watch it.

This film is about Laurence Fishburne ‘s attempt to find a place in the society that he left when he committed a terrible crime. There is a slight tinge of Black angst, but that isn't the main point. He could be any man, trying to find a new home and dealing with his past. It takes a long time before people come to accept Mr. Fortlow for what he is, a man in the true sense of the word.

He teaches us all a lesson in what it should be like to be a man. Be honest and true to yourself. Deal fairly with others. Do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Simple to say, hard to do when you are always outnumbered

I won't go into details of the storyline, as you can read that from other reviews. I will say that this is one of the best dramatic films I've seen that most haven't even heard of. It is a very moving story with many underlying plots that come together well and each stand out to be noticed. The acting was Grade A from everyone casted, the messages (and there were many) are relevant and stirring, and there just aren't enough good things to say about this film. I think that Larry Fishburne is one of our better black actors, I believe better than Denzel based on the variety of characters that Fishburne has played over the years, and this may have been his best work. His character and his acting is that strong in this film. If you've seen the movie "Pitch Black" with Vin Diesel (now that they've made a sequel 4 years later), you know that it was a slow, kind of boring movie, but Vin played his character Riddick with such coolness that his role made the flick. Fishburne does the same outstanding performance, but unlike Pitch Black, everything else about Outnumbered was strong in supporting the lead character. An excellent film that I would highly recommend.

In Los Angeles, the hot-tempered collector of cans Socrates "Socco" Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) is an ex-con that has served a long sentence for killing a man and a woman. Now he is trying to build a new life and find a job. However he is discriminated against his age, color and background. His only friend is Right Burke (Bill Cobbs), who is dying of cancer. He also helps a young woman that is having problems with her husband. When Socco meets the boy Darryl (Daniel Williams), he finds that Darryl lives with a foster family that does not take care of him. Further, he has just witnessed the murder of another boy by a small-time criminal. Socco helps the boy to grow-up while helps Burke and tries to find work at a supermarket.

"Always Outnumbered" is a powerful drama with the story of a man that is trying to build a new life after committing murder and staying imprisoned for a long period. He has no education, but has become wise with the lessons of life, and is a good man that helps friends and acquaintances. The story shows also his difficulty to find a job due to his age, color and background. However the plot is hopeful in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Garantia de Vida" ("Warranty of Life")

Ground breaking moral film running counter to the exploitative mainstream. Deserves, and will probably receive, serious study by film students for many years to come.

I can only imagine this would have been the kind of rare, special once-in-a-life-time project all who participated must feel pretty good about.