Cellmates

I found myself almost right from the start of this film, yearning to shut it off and find an action film or reality TV show like duck dynasty or pawn stars. However, somewhere in all the negative connotations stirred up by this subject. I found myself strangely seduced by the subliminal message this film massages into your heart. I guess somewhere inside of me I find that I really wish that in my lifetime. That altruism brought on by exposure and common goals, similar to my armed forces experience. Would one day bring my nation a time of unprecedented peace, brotherly love and acceptance. This film reminded me that our children's children, should not know that we couldn't find the time for one more hug. But did find time to hate others.

When I originally began to watch this movie, I figured it would be a typical comedy, something that would make lame jokes and not really do much else. The first part of the movie sets the scene for this, and I felt I got what I expected. With the arrival of Emilio, the story changes. It takes a different pace, and tries to develop a relationship amongst the characters. While it does not explore the serious harms of prison life (it does seek some comedic relief by portraying the violence), it does have a few plot twists, as well as a simple moral to the story.

The connection between Leroy and Madalena is well presented, focusing on an emotional connection over the brief physical ones, usually associated with low budget comedy movies.

While the movie does not have great graphics, the music is well done for most situations, and the acting is adequate-good. The movie should draw you in, so it is definitely worth watching.

There isn't too much simplistic comedy, and no nudity, drug usage etc., so if you are looking for that, this may not be the movie for you, but otherwise, check it out as a good 85 minutes of cinema.

Tom Sizemore wrings every moment out of the role of a lifetime. A hateful guy, practically a Nazi, whom you can't help loving. You sympathize with him throughout this romp despite his insane beliefs. This was Mr. Sizemore's moment. 'Nuff said. I don't want him to get big-headed. The rest of the cast was right on and gave everything they had. Over the top? Sure. Cartoon-like characters, yes. Mugging stolen straight from The Three Stooges? Absolutely, but this clever film manages to take an extremely touchy subject: racism, and turn it into a screaming comedy, a comedy with pathos. Disgusting as the warden (Stacy Keach) is, you can't help but like the guy and Héctor Jiménez is a one of a kind, professional scene-stealer by trade. The pacing of Cellmates is just right. Not fast, but never a dull moment. The sweet Olga Segura adds mucho encanto and romance without saying a word on screen, and I was impressed that the script by Baget and Moscato never allowed itself to be drawn into the usual prison clichés: food fights, shanks, mean hulk-like bullies and sadistic guards, etc. This being a prison work farm, the prisoners had more freedom and we didn't have to look at all the hard-core tattooed killers and perverts shuffling around in chains. Overall, an uplifting film with sorry-ass characters you just gotta love. Don't fail to add this to your collection.

Leroy Lowe, grand dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan confronts everything he's been taught to hate when he's sentenced to three years of hard labor on a prison work farm, where Warden Merville, dead set on rehabilitating Leroy, chooses Emilio, a Hispanic field worker imprisoned for fighting for labor rights, to be his cell-mate.

The plot of this one is very forced -- there is no way a man is going to enter into prison as a head of a white supremacist group and start warming up to the idea of migrant worker's labor rights or even think about starting a relationship with a Mexican woman. So if we were to judge this film on realism, it fails miserably.

Luckily, as a comedy, it need not be judged on realism. It only has to be funny. And it is. Tom Sizemore and Stacy Keach are both humorous, and it was nice to see Keach put a new spin on a role he already covered nicely in "Prison Break".

Tom Sizemore plays a white and proud big-shot in the Ku Klux Klan who get sent to jail and get the misfortune of having to share his cell with a Mexican, played by Hector Jimenez (mostly known for being Jack Black's sidekick in Nacho Libre).

It's a rather simple tale and 50% of the film is just Tom and Hector together in a cell so if you have a strong disliking for either of those then perhaps this film is not for you.

But if you don't and you maybe even like them then yeah for sure it's worth a spin.

Visually it could have been a little better looking, but I suppose there is just so much you can do with a cell to make it look good on film.

6.5/10