samnaji-15383

Having not been a prisoner, nor spent time in Sing Sing prison, I have no context to say the actors did not portray prisoner's as they are or the environment that they lived in. What I will say is that this is a film about putting an amateur dramatic production. The prison setting serves little to almost no purpose. The film could have swapped Sing Sing prison for a theatre school or a juvenal hall for all the threat or tension it serves up. Sing Sing looked like quite a nice prison for a maximum detention centre. The hall for the RTA was better than the facilities at my school all those years ago. The prisoners even had a nice garden to wonder in.

As a consequence this film is really about how acting can help someone re-discover themselves or find purpose in life. And, unfortunately, it's as entertaining as dishwater. I am sure some people will get a lot from this film and judging from the 7.7 score (at the time of writing) it touched the hearts and minds of many. I was not one of them. I gave up about 2/3 in. If I wanted to watch AmDram, there are numerous productions I could volunteer for.

This film kept on reminding me of wanting to be Shawshank Redemption, which is by far, a superior film. The constant use of incidental "sad" music in an attempt to generate empathy just became jarring.

The acting was good but that was the only high point. Glad I watched it on Prime as I easily walked away from it by hitting the return button on my remote.

This is like watching an extended episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone, but in a good way.

I really like the fact we are second guessing with Dennis Hopper's character, Johnny, on whether Mora is an actual mermaid or whether its all in her mind. The film takes the subject matter seriously and we learn that mermaids are not the sweet fun characters that Disney made out with Ariel from The Little Mermaid. The roots of mermaids and sirens are not to be trivalued with as it could mean death for humans. The mystery elements of the story are the strongest selling point of the film.

There are some solid performances as well. I enjoyed watching Linda Lawson as Mora, Gavin Muir as Captain Murdock and Luana Anders as Ellen. Dennis Hopper channelled a naïve sailor on shore leave but I felt he was the weakest part of the film. At times his acting was pretty awful, especially when he went head-to-head with Gavin Muir. The script could also have done with a polish and reflected it was of its time.

Huge credit it should go to Nicolas Winding Refn who bought the rights of this film and remastered it, basically saving it. You need to see this film from the 4K remaster and not in the terrible colourisation SD. Powerhouse Indicator Blu Ray has the remaster and that is the only way to appreciate it. Some scenes are laser sharp, so huge kudos to the restoration.

For me it is one to re-watch.

Come on, you must admit, when you add the dodgy Australian accents by English thesps Patrick Mower and George Layton as Colin and Ray, the ragtime music and their theme tune "Rugby Special" by Brian Bennett and the fact their villainy is both genius and downright cheeky, this is one of the best Sweeney episodes because of the comedy.

I read on trivia from the first outing of Colin and Ray in the episode "Golden Fleece" that a potential spin off show was on the cards. What a shame it never happened and a loss to classic TV. It would have been great to see these two morons get up to numerous capers around the globe. Just a one-off series of 6 episodes would have been great. Oh well.

It was also wonderful to see a very young Lynda Bellingham who looked so sweet.

Definitely an episode to be treasured.