K-11

I heard about this film and looked it up. The premise seemed fascinating and the first thing that came to mind is "I must watch this". Anticipating, from the visuals and advertising, this film would be a trippy ride through prison lane. Unfortunately as soon as I started watching, I got the sense of a very sanitized film with actors who I am sure had lots of terms and conditions imposed on the filmmakers prior to diving into making the film. In one word, the film just does not seem authentic. A simple a word as that maybe, it is the lifeblood of films of this type. If you are going to go through the troubles of doing a prison drama, get in there and get your feet wet. The actors skimped on all situations. Not sure if the script was written like that or what happened between the production and final cut. Whatever may have happened in the process, it is obvious many things got chopped and with them the fear and tension that this sort of situation brings about for any straight attorney who would have been wrongly classified in a prison system. The girl that the attorney meets at the beginning is so obviously female, she was miscast in the first place. Nowhere did her performance remotely resemble that of someone who may have been previously male. If you are going to do something like this.. go all the way. Get the real thing. You would never see obviously real women in a K-11 section and that is what spoiled it for me. Sometimes playing it safe can inhibit your film from all of the wonderful possibilities that could have been effective if more time and effort was placed in finding actors who could accurately portray a grim situation successfully in a rather dark place. My suspension of disbelieve got interrupted several times and at every attempt I made to try to immerse myself in the reality of what should have been a very dark, disturbing, spine tingling situation for the viewer. In other words I expected something around the realm of "OZ" the very successful cable series that did exemplify the tensions and fears that prison life entail. Sad to say, I felt instead of OZ I got something along the lines of "the wizard of OZ" version sprinkled with mild to light tension. Unfortunately, this was a missed opportunity.

Someone likely had a good idea in planning this film: place a straight man in a prison cell area reserved for homosexuals and all variations of gender role playing. That concept could prove interesting as an exploration of 'community' among the 'unwanted' of detainees. But as written by Jared Kurt and Jules Stewart and especially as directed by Jules Stewart the film loses all semblance of originality, for one reason - because it casts women in the roles of transsexuals and transvestites so as not to offend the actors or the audience with same sex variations.

But that is only one reason this film sinks. The script is tepid to poor, a story is practically nonexistent, and the characters are tropes played by actors who seem embarrassed by what they are asked to do. What little story there is can be summarized as follows: a wealthy but drug addicted and alcoholic record produced named Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic, one of our stronger actors usually) passes out, is arrested for homicide, and thrown into LA County Jail in a unit reserved for Homosexuals and sexual deviants K-11. From there it is a power struggle run by transvestite Mousey (the first female - Kate del Castillo - cast as a male and it doesn't work). Cocaine and other drugs are readily available through the corruption of Ben (Jason Mewes) who works in the office of the deputy Sgt. Johnson (DB Sweeney) who is likewise drug addled and preys on the inmates for sexual favors. Bad things happen, such as the murder of child molester Detroit (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister) by transsexual Butterfly (Portia Doubleday) and Raymond finally comes out of his cloudy drug abused head and figures a way out of this very odd confinement, but not without a series of meaningless circumstances that serve only to point out the depravity of the inmates.

Yes, it is that bad. Try as you may to find a saving grace to this film is without success. Perhaps if the writers and director had had the courage to use an all male cast instead of putting female actors in the roles of men who are range from simply nelly to butch to surgically transformed (in various stages) into transsexuals the film may have had a reason for being made. As it is, it is an embarrassment for Goran Visnjic, and DB Sweeney and the rest of the actors who for some reason signed on to this poorly conceived and made project.

Grady Harp

I had super low expectations going into this film, but I surprisingly liked it.

The characters feel very real and damaged. Raymond Saxx Jr.'s plight is uncomfortable and unfortunate for him.

D.B. Sweeney is solid as the waste of space Lt. Gerald Johnson. Goran Visnjic gives a sympathetic portrayal of record producer Saxx who got too deep into drugs.

Kate Del Castillo as Mousey is not bad. She has flashes of brilliance as the trans-gender. Portia Doubleday is unnerving and heartbreaking as Butterfly.

Obviously, the film is low-budget, but I'm confused why the critics trashed it like they did. I bet some of them never bothered to watch the film. Although, this is not the type of film critics would love. It's not an amazing film, but it's hardly exploitative...so take it for what it is. I enjoyed the ending and I would watch it again if I saw it television. An interesting directorial debut for indie director Jules Stewart.

I think if Harley Quinn and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest had a love child this film would be it! Conceptually it's almost there, some of the events in the dorm can be disturbing to some but this is a sterilised version of 'Let's not really show any detail'

Certainly goes to prove if you want drugs go to this prison as there is bucket loads available to the right people!

The top dog 'Mousey' is not your stereotypical leader as she comes across as being weak at times, shame she wasn't made a bit meaner.

It's still a good time filler if there is nothing else to watch just to see what happens to the lead character.

There will be people hating on this film because of various reasons, but I loved the story, even though it could have been much much better, I'd say this is rather rushed, but I wouldn't say it's bad. This homosexual prison camp never came across my mind, at least it doesn't seem to exist in my country.

I looked up Doubleday's filmography and found this movie, at first I wasn't expecting much from her but I must say her role as Butterfly is really really fabulous, same for Visnjic, although I think he'd have done better with his emotions.

If you have spare time, it wouldn't hurt to check this out as it is a rather different experience with other films.