Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

So, our main "protagonist" is thrown inside a prison nobody would ever want to visit.This review contains spoilers...!It doesn't take long before the tougher prisoners - 'Mureren' in particular - target him, put him in place, force him to jump through their hoops and accept whatever crap they throw his way... Rune being alone and having no chance to defend himself, doesn't have much choice.Following a failed drug-smuggling deal, Rune is screwed because he now owes money he can't cough up. 'Mureren' has it in for him - he did stab a friend of 'Mureren' on the outside... So it's time Rune is put out of his misery.Were we really supposed to care about this guy? I found no reason to root for Rune... He's hardly any better than them, just weaker. Sure, the guy who wastes him is a typical thug - a scumbag member of a gang of scumbags who all belong in there, so I'd give some credit to the actors portraying these low-lifes. Since the movie could be a somewhat realistic portrayal of life in places like this, props go where they are due.But it's just bleak. And like Rune - of little redeeming qualities.

Prison movies are hard to make. Though the good ones seem effortlessly. And while you can file most of them as dramas (like this one), they almost feel like a sub-genre. Pacing is always key, which this movie proves can handle very well. It's not fancy, but what prison actually is, it's more down and dirty.The relationships explored make sense in this. And while we may not get all the answers from this movie, the characters are mysterious enough, but also engaging enough for us to care. And that's quite a feat for a movie about criminals and their just (?) punishment. Arguing if prison is the best solution for some or if it works as a whole is a completely different matter.

Very nice film that really shows how the life in prison can be. Many of the prisoners are real bad guys, and some of them have actually been to prison in the very same place that the movie is shot before the prison closed in 2006.Also the main correctional officer Kim, is a real officer that actually used to work in the very same prison, and is now working in Denmarks newest high security prison that opened in October 2006.The movie shows a very harsh environment, just the way it actually was. When you watch it you get a real feeling of what it would be like to be in prison.Today the old prison is operating as a museum and many parts of the building has been left untouched since the last inmates were moved to the new prison.

Rune, a young criminal serving time, is transferred to a new prison where he must use his wits in order to survive. Not long after entering the facility, Rune is viewed as a good subject to bully by the most experienced criminals in his new home. Rune establishes himself as a new force after attacking an Albanian inmate by order of The Mason, one of the prominent inmates, who seems to control what is going on inside.Meeting Rashid, another man at the prison, gives Rune an ally that will stay true to him. Devising a plan to smuggle drugs, brings him to the attention of Mason's superior, the powerful Carsten. It will be only a question of time before Rune is found out. The atmosphere of "R" is bleak, at best. Comparisons to Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet" comes to mind since both premises deal with behind the scenes life at a high security jail where men are thrown together and must be strong to survive. This Danish entry is co-directed by Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer. The strength of the film lies in the ensemble playing the directors got from the strong cast they amassed. It is not a film for those weak at heart, prison life being what it is, it shows in vivid detail what goes on behind bars, when criminals must survive, one way, or another.Johan Philip Asbaek, who plays Rune, makes a great impression in the way he approaches the role. Dulfil Al-Jabouri is seen as Rashid, the only friend Rune finds in that milieu. The supporting cast is excellent, mainly Omar Shargawi and Roland Moller. The oppressive atmosphere of the prison is capture in vivid detail by the cinematographer, Magnus Northenhof Jonck whose gritty photography is one of the real assets of the film.