The System

I always make an effort to give some slack to newb filmmakers, but they need to at least bring something fresh to the table. Writer and director Dallas Jackson gave us a film that's been done many times before, and many times better. There was nothing new or engaging in the dragged out 97 min runtime, but cliched characters with cheesy dialogue, a predictable and bland script, with sub-par performances all around. It was clear that Jackson was inexperienced directing his cast effectively, but at least Terrence Howard and Jeremy Piven gave it their best attempt; Tyrese Gibson gave his lousiest, laziest and most boring performance to date, like it was his first acting gig. He made it seem like he'd rather just be at home calling in his lines - even him just walking around so slow in his scenes felt like he was struggling to stay awake. Had Gibson put in just half the effort (even with some facial expressions) like the rest of the cast did, this may have been more watchable. But instead, it was a boring slog with mediocre action and a barely existent narrative. It's a very generous 5/10 from me.

Jeremy Piven was unrecognizable. Wow. Terance Howard popped up. Again, wow. Standard script. Watching these former A-listers bring the whole movie up a star was fun. Gibson is not a leading man. He mumbles and poses his way through. Just not a very good movie. Found myself checking email and surfing while it was droning on. The fact an inmate carries a cell phone around for an hour was not beyond me. The fact all the bad guys were white and all the heroes were black was not missed. Just a paint by numbers, straight to DVD and streaming movie about a former soldier who gets into trouble and has to go underground. Meh.

That's all I wan' know. Dallas Jackson, what did you smoke before making this? 'cos I swear today to stay far away from it.... Gibson must be cursing himself for being a part of this... 20 minutes of the movie and I felt like I was watching some amateur 80s' chinese stuff.... The actors have done their best but the way it is directed and the cinematography.... Both deserve an Oscar for "God knows what it was". I personally feel that the young film makers must watch this again and again so they'd know what not to do. Also the script seems like stolen from hundreds of average films from the past 2 decades.

Who is kidnapper holding Gibson's and Howard's family members hostage??? It's the only reason I can afford for them being tied to this piece of trash. Really bad acting, writing, cinematography, sets, etc...etc... The eighties A-Team or Hardcastle and McCormack had better production value and scripts!!! The prison laundry scene looked like a laundromat. The prison yard looked like a high school gym area with temp fencing. Low budget doesn't begin to describe this terrible film... A more appropriate title would be 80 minutes of Tyrese Making Stinkface... I want my 80 minutes back with interest!

I decided to watch this movie because of the appearance of the excellent actor Terrence Howard. He does act well (again), but the rest of this movie is a stinker...

The bad: this story does not make sense. It's gibbledigook nonsensical. And mind you, this story is meant to be taken seriously, but it ends up being a laughing stock.

More bad; 2 actors are performing well, but the rest of the cast is hopelessly below average. This movie is rushed or at least void of any talent in writing and directing.

Not even the action is worth the watch. I am a fan of action B-movies, but this movie is just completely lacking in any sort of exciting action as well. What a dud!