Virgil Bliss

I really had to keep reminding myself that I was actually watching a MOVIE, and not experiencing a real scenario. The acting is absolutely STUNNING; the characters of Virgil and Ruby are so incredibly realistic that you will forget these are actually actors and not real people. I felt that Virgil and Ruby were soul mates, but due to the hopeless circumstances on which their relationship was based, their union was doomed from the start. This movie is what independent film-making is all about; Virgil Bliss will solidify the fact that regardless of your budget, if you get the right talent, the right director and writer, you can make a masterpiece! 9 out of 10.

This is a great indie film. All movie buffs should really give it a shot if they have a chance. Be warned though, if you are easily depressed by people that have it worse off than you, then you shouldn't watch it. My parents and I watched this film and they were horrified. This movie should be viewed by realists.

The acting is superb. The camera handling is great. An all around great movie. 9/10

"Virgil Bliss" tells the story of a revolving door criminal who is released from Rikers to the streets of NYC where we watch his best intentions to go straight dissolve before our eyes. Maggio tells a moving and believable story and delivers a message about social ills while working with the obvious limitations of the truly independent film maker...no small accomplishment. Pound for pound, "Virgil Bliss" is more movie than most of the stuff coming from Hollywood studios. Viewers, however, should be advised the subject matter is gritty and not pleasant. Recommended for realists only.

Bliss is an apt surname for this man-child whose criminality began in his elementary school years and finished up with graduate studies in Rikers, NYC. Expect a hardened criminal, cynical posture and an impenetrable veneer? You'll find a mannerly southern boy trying to do the right things on the road to recovery.

Virgil is a sympathetic character released, after a brief decompression in a halfway house, to a city beyond his comprehension. Since his New York experience was all in a jail, he's thinking his small town instincts will serve him well here. Unaffected by prison mores, his re-entry is hastened by his unreformed roommate determined to accustom Virgil to the culture of NYC (mean) streets.

Transitions are always painful but our hero is blessed with incremental success. The quest to overcome his past, reform the wayward and recover his long lost integrity is the fascinating struggle that keeps the story rolling. The odds of success are slim but Virgil is not the typical ex-con. And 'Virgil Bliss' is not your typical morality tale. The title role is portrayed by Clint Jordan whose training prepared him with real prison time. Watch for more from this talent and hope that this vehicle gets the mileage to move him on.

Virgil's incremental progress is hindered by the excre-mental patients who inhabit the world of the ex-con and illustrate the problem of recidivism even for the most determined felon. And the viewer is left with the task of solving this conundrum.

Are you up to it?

I can't watch the whole thing in one setting. It's real enough that it reminds me deeply of the life that I have been lucky enough to get out of but regret that so many people still live there. Well done to all. But what is the purpose? What do we walk away with? The movie is good enough to make me wonder and worry about such questions. Hope lots other see it and have similar thoughts.