Cellmates

I believe character actors can give you surprises anytime... when it comes to Tom Sizemore, I only remembered him in Heart and Souls although I had seen him quite often in several other movies... but boy how good he did it in Cellmates, it made me check out his resume here and got me remember more than a dozen of his performances in the movies I had already seen...

The plot is very straight and obvious... a mean racist guy learns to love people... but the process which he goes through is what you have to enjoy in the movie... I personally think this movie is as surprising as Bad-Ass starring Danny Trejo.. Do watch it... you won't regret...

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.

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

(2012) Cellmates COMEDY DRAMA

I would've given this film a bomb, but because it has put me to sleep every time I put it on, I'm going to give it at least one star for doing just that. The set up is a silly one, and it consists users to alter their brains to this kind of level. Stars Tom Sizemore as KKK supporter, Leroy Lowe who's just been sentenced to 3 years in prison while his best friend, Bubba (Kevin P. Farley) and 'cellmate' only get a year, for a multiple of offenses nothing to do with race. Leory also happens to be the movie's narrator, as he rants about his time being locked up in a prison with a warden named Merville (Stacy Keach) who takes great pride into managing his potato field, since he's won awards. When Bubba becomes a vegetable as a result of choking on a potato, Leroy then have to share his cell with a another cellmate who happens to be a refugee from Mexico called Emileo (Héctor Jiménez) who's being locked up because of his right to have better pay working with short hours. And at the same time, Leroy ends up corresponding with a warden's maid, Madalena (Olga Segura) by way of letters behind the warden's back, and without him looking. The only problem is that, all the letters are written in Spanish whereas it's only language Madalena is capable to understand. And that Leory needs the assistance of Emileo to help him translate what the letters are saying, as well as writing letters back to her. One of the problems making a low budget movie is that that it eliminates specific questions that needed to be answered, while answering others, such as how did it come about that Madalena selected to correspond with the racist Leroy as opposed to the others, who also have to listen to the warden babble about potatoes? And since when did warden's respect letters from coming in and out, with zero effort to intercept any that may convict him? If Leroy assaulted Emileo, why wasn't it used against him? It is those questions and more which is why I can't recommend this movie, even though it has potential.

I saw this at the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. It was my favorite film there. The audience was laughing so much that at times, it was hard to hear the film. Who would have thought Tom Sizemore playing a racist KKK member would be so hilarious. Hector Jimenez is also wonderfully funny as a farm labor worker who must share a cell with Sizemore's character. Stacy Keach also lights up the screen with his portrayal of the prison warden who is obsessed with potatoes. I don't want to ruin where the story goes but the film transcends being just a comedy and makes a statement on race relations in this country. Well written and directed, I recommend it to all!