Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

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.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Is not an everyday thing (specially with my supernatural taste in movies) to stumble with a movie SO realistic, so true. The number that resumes this movie doesn't has to mean anything to you because, and you need to have this present in your mind in every second, I prefer and always will prefer fantastic movies with things that can't happen in real life not even in a thousand years. There are some other people that prefers real movies, elements which you can relate with. I don't and that's why I won't give a 10 or a 9 to this movie. What I can say, is that if I'd be one of those people who prefer real instead of unreal, this movie would definitely be on the top 15 best films. Raw, hash, thug, that's what this movie is about. According to the director and other guys involved on the making of this movie, they were trying to recreate exactly how prisons are in England, and you believe it. I don't fell sorrow or anything (if i lived there, I would) but it makes you think for a moment and it makes you imagine how would you react on a situation like that one. Anyway, It's a great film but also a long one. The end is excellent, the development too; the Indie-movie air is always present throughout the entire movie; the acting is great, one of the best things, and that's pretty much It. For those who love realistic movies, they will really enjoy this one; for those of us who love unrealistic movies, we will also enjoy this but not as much as the other guys. 7/10.

Whoa! Not just a movie, but a powerhouse punch of an experience, right from beginning to end. Going in without knowing anything helps, for sure. In any case, here's the trailer - https://youtu.be/zE4ziBfu0JA1-liner headline: this is about a YO (look it up) in the British prison system, who's just become an inmate in a prison where, along with there being opportunities to rehabilitate (which may, or may not be what he has in mind), there's also opportunity for a different kind of a reckoning, or reconciliation, depending on one's perspective. Nothing short of visceral, director David Mackenzie ('Asylum', 'Young Adam', 'Perfect Sense', the upcoming 'Hell or High water') owns every line, and every frame of the fantastic screenplay, making this one of the best, and the grittiest prison thriller-drama ever committed to celluloid (in exalted company - Un Prophet, Papillon, Escape from Alcatraz, Shawshank redemption, The Escapist....). Jack O'Connell seems to be the go-to guy for prison movies, since he did Angelina Jolie's 'unbroken' after this one, but this one packs one hell of a punch, imho, more than that, on various levels, not the least is his characterization and corresponding performance. He was also fantastic in the unnecessarily deridden 'Money Monster', and I'm looking forward to his turn in the upcoming 'HHhH' (the other movie this year about 'Operation: Anthropoid'), 'Tulip Fever' and 'Home'. Have also heard great things about '71, and look forward to that one as well. Ben Mendelsohn. Ever since his super-creepy turn in the Ozzie 'Animal Kingdom', this guy has owned every frame of any movie he;s been in. Sample this - 'Killing them softly', 'The place beyond the pines', 'Black Sea', 'Mississippi Grind' and even in bit roles like the one he did in 'The dark knight returns'. He takes one of the most powerful roles he's been in, and makes us forget he's Ben the actor, and the reaction to what he does, and what he undergoes, is nothing short of visceral. Rupert Friend, 'Quinn' from the US version of 'Homeland', has a very powerful, if short, role, and acquits himself perfectly. The acting's pretty great all-around (Sam Spruell, David Ajala, Anthony Welsh, Raphael Sowole etc.), and the group therapy sequences are perhaps my pick for some of the most explosive (think, powder- keg) situations ever brought to life on film, with one not knowing how each sequence/scenario will turn out. Every little thing every little character says, and does, has consequences, and leaves and definitely visible impact, even within the confines of the plot and its screenplay. One of the best examples of such action-consequence pairs that I have seen on screen. Clocking at (around) one and half hours in all, there is not a little bit of fat to be found in this, and all department complement the narrative perfectly, even the sparse (bg) score on hand. The camera-work has to be singled out, since the combination of steadicams and continuously-flowing shots makes us a part of the action, and is perhaps on-par, or better, than what Paul (Bloody Sunday'/'Bourne' Greengrass has ever done. Simply amazing work (Michael McDonough - Winter's bone, Lay the favorite, 13, Quarantine, Fear the walking dead....)!My only complaint? I wanted more group therapy session sequences. That's it. And yes, more 'bruv' interactions like the one in the gym, or a couple of other face-face interactions among key characters, that showcases both menace, as well as a surprising kind of tenderness. But this one's lean, and mean. I'd watch this one again and again, given the opportunity, and only regret that I could not enjoy this on the big screen. Thanks to the local UK British council, that I could watch this one at all!***Fair warning: Not for the squeamish, not for the prude***

There is really no plot to this movie. Just a young man goes to prison, meets up with his dad and not much else happens. It took me 4 tries to watch this movie. I finally set viewing to 4x near the end to keep from falling asleep. ALmost no action. Dialog is poor at best. No moral, no plot, just trudging along an average person in jail. I do not usually regret watching a movie because If its bad enough, I stop watching near the beginning. But, this one has great acting and i kept wanting something to happen. Alas, nothing ever does. There is more going on in a 15 minute span of watching OZ on HBO. I would have giving it a 1 star but the acting was good.

Jack O'Connell plays a young offender that is transferred to an adult prison due to his violent behavior. There he meets his father who he barely knows. After multiple fights he starts attending group therapy in order to try to manage his anger. The whole movie is filled with violence and effing. I don't think there are two sentences without effing. Not that I care but I thought the dialogues were a bit simple. Maybe that's common in prison. Anyways, Jack O'Connell puts down a good performance. You have the normal prison movie clichés like the corrupt guards, the therapist that believes everybody has something good to offer, the bad guy that runs the whole prison aisle etc. Not a bad movie but I saw better prison movies, but it's worth a watch.