Civil Brand

Caught the beginning of this film on cable, found it interesting enough, that I purchased the film on Amazon. Honestly, I didn't expect much, women's prison films are notoriously bad or depressingly sad; however, I have to say that I was surprisingly pleased with Civil Brand. While the story initially seems to revolve around Frances Shepherd (lovely LisaRaye)) a women convicted to life for killing her abusive husband, the film quickly transforms into an ensemble event, with an interesting, and for a women's prison film, very attractive cast. First we're introduced to Sabrina (rapper Da Brat) who narrates us through this tale. Once inside we meet Lil' Momma (gorgeous Lark Voorhies) the religious teen doing time for killing her rapist step-father; militant Wet (always impressive Monica Calhoun), prison snitch Aisha (the underrated Tichina Arnold) and finally gangster girl Nikki (the delectable N'Bushe Wright). Instead of focusing, as most prison films do, on infighting between the inmates, the film successfully sheds light on the abuse women prisoners often encounter while locked up. In Civil Brand, that abuse is orchestrated by the notorious Captain Deese (the always worthy Clifton Powell). From slave labor to rape, Deese is the perfect despicable villain needed for such a movie. While the performances range from watchable to very good, none stand out more than that of N'Bushe Wright. Not since Pam Grier have I seen an actress pull off the role of a tough-as-nails bad girl, and look so hot doing it. Those that don't know her by name, may remember her in similar roles in the films Blade and Dead Presidents. This woman should be an A-List actress, why that hasn't happened is a mystery to me. Anyway, I digress, Civil Brand is worthy of 91 minutes (the actual running time) of your day. If you like action films, if you like action films with great looking actresses, this is the film for you.

Civil Brand is a mediocre prison film. It is trying to class up the much-maligned so called "Women in Prison" flick. This isn't like "Caged Heat" and "Chained Heat". Rather this is a drama about changing your life for the better.

The redeeming parts of this film are: any scene with Warden Alan Deese (Clifton Powell) and Mos Def's character. Everything else is very clichéd and has no originality. All the prison stereotypes are in force. Also there are too many jump cuts and editing tricks. The acting for the most part is just a lot of yelling. On the downside, the ending feels a bit tacked-on. On the upside, Lark Voorhies of "Saved By the Bell" fame is in it.

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I'm pretty sure a lot of movies we watch contain errors that were honest mistakes. This movie may have a few major mistakes, but overall we understand where the author was trying to go. Last year I began writing a script myself and after proofreading several times I still may have over looked a few mistakes. The bottom line is Civil Brand was a good movie. I believe the director used the right actresses to star in the movie because they fit the characters easily. Acting is something you have to feel and I believe this is why the movie is considered to be one of our best. There's a major difference between Black Movies and movies with Black stars. Civil Brand is a black movie all the way through. It may be a beginning for us who knows, but most importantly it's something done by us. A $500.00 budget is nowhere near enough to make a movie without pressure, so I say please keep up the good work women. All of the women in this movie are setting the path for aspiring, actresses/ writers like myself.

CIVIL BRAND is a story which tells of a women's prison in which the inmates are forced to work as slaves, and are exploited as little more than animals. True, we've all seen this in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, where convicts are put to physical labor, but it's always been presented as an acceptable situation. A man robs a store and kills the clerk, so why not have him pound out license plates and working on road construction crews?

CIVIL BRAND offers a fresh look at the Prison-Industrial Complex, attacking the issue from several different angles. For one thing, the inmates aren't working on roads or some kind of community service- they're making clothes for department stores. A more provocative approach, though, is the fact that these slaves are female, a scenario that folks are not used to considering. Outstanding performances by LisaRaye, Mos Def, Clifton Powell, MC Lyte, Monica Calhoun, Lark Voorhies, and the sensational N'Bushe Wright (the lady Panther from DEAD PRESIDENTS who is one of the most talented people acting in Cinema today, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous), powerful cinematography, and brutal honesty come together to make CIVIL BRAND not just a great movie, but an extremely important one.

(c) Jake McGee - Get Underground

wow some people really chewed this one up and spit it out. but come on there are independent movies out there that are so bad you'd like to ask for your money back. i think this film was better than some and the fact that all the actors did a good job made it even better. that whole all star cast thing is usually a disappointment. but gee must we nit pick so much. the plot and the script were good. to say our people are putting out doo doo in plastic cases that you can rent from the video store and suggesting that this film is one of them is crazy. i mean sankofa was cheezy but it got a point across. we need to stop looking for things to stick to a formula for it to get our approval. let art be art. its late and i just finished watching this film. there's a dope line at the end by n'bushe wright. and monica calhoun is coming up. i think people should see this film for the issue behind the story. and because someone took the time to make it. it is an independent film for a reason. i'm out rent the movie post a comment. everyone is able to have their opinion. peace