I ticked the 'spoilers' box, but for some reason it doesn't seem to have taken, so...
THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
'Starred Up' tells the story of Eric (played by 'Skins' alumni Jack O'Connell) whose criminality is so habitual he is 'starred up' from his young offenders institution to adult prison two years earlier than his nineteen years would normally allow. Once in big-boy prison he discovers one of the other inmates is his father, Neville (played by Ben Mendelsohn, an Australian who gamely attempts an estuary English accent - but surely it would have been easier to have hired an English actor?) Aussie Nev is prompted to find some shred of paternal responsibility and tries to encourage his son not to rock the boat, but Eric isn't so easy to control...
All your favourite prison film stereotypes are here: the corrupt guards, the prisoner who *really* runs things, the lily-livered liberal who believes everyone has some good inside them, etc etc. O'Connell's fans will be pleased by his frequent shirtless scenes (not to mention his full-frontal shots), but the role doesn't stretch his acting muscles: he's required to portray only angry, or slightly less angry. But he doesn't disgrace himself. Some plot threads are left dangling at the end (eg: we are not told if the guards who tried to kill Eric faced any punishment) and if all the swear words had been excised from the script the film would have been half the length! But overall I enjoyed this, although it's probably not the kind of film to see if you want cheering up...
THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
'Starred Up' tells the story of Eric (played by 'Skins' alumni Jack O'Connell) whose criminality is so habitual he is 'starred up' from his young offenders institution to adult prison two years earlier than his nineteen years would normally allow. Once in big-boy prison he discovers one of the other inmates is his father, Neville (played by Ben Mendelsohn, an Australian who gamely attempts an estuary English accent - but surely it would have been easier to have hired an English actor?) Aussie Nev is prompted to find some shred of paternal responsibility and tries to encourage his son not to rock the boat, but Eric isn't so easy to control...
All your favourite prison film stereotypes are here: the corrupt guards, the prisoner who *really* runs things, the lily-livered liberal who believes everyone has some good inside them, etc etc. O'Connell's fans will be pleased by his frequent shirtless scenes (not to mention his full-frontal shots), but the role doesn't stretch his acting muscles: he's required to portray only angry, or slightly less angry. But he doesn't disgrace himself. Some plot threads are left dangling at the end (eg: we are not told if the guards who tried to kill Eric faced any punishment) and if all the swear words had been excised from the script the film would have been half the length! But overall I enjoyed this, although it's probably not the kind of film to see if you want cheering up...