Shot Caller

SPOILERS: God what a tragic and depressing movie. I don't usually think of 5 star movies in those terms but this movie had a message and it explained it quite well, if you can get past all of the racism, violence, and just general ugliness inherent in prisons and gangs.Money never wanted to get into the gang but he had to in order to survive. And unfortunately, once you're in, the gang never takes it's tentacles out of you. Money did what he had to do to stay on the gang's good side but when his sentence was about to end, he wanted out and back into a regular life. Beast made it clear that "once you're in, you're in for life" and threatened to kill Money's family if he tried to clean up his act. And so Money did what he had to do to protect his family.It wasn't pretty and it wasn't a feel good film but it was a pretty realistic portrayal of what prisons and the criminal underworld can do to a person, even a good person, when they get trapped inside of that mess. The acting was excellent. The plot was believable. And the story just flowed well and made sense. Great movie.

... lesson in causality. There are several rules of occurrence that are illustrated very well here, and actually these rules are in play all the time. They have many names, the Butterfly Effect, E. Lorenz's Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow, cause and effect, the domino principle and on. Some apply to specifics and others general, but they all say essentially the same thing: every little thing has consequences, even the seemingly innocuous ones. Sometimes we get caught up in those consequences, sometimes others get caught up in those consequences, sometimes everyone gets caught up in them. That is the frame this film is built around. Specifically, ordering one more bottle of wine at a dinner with friends, where the proverbial nail in the horseshoe is lost.The actors are good to very good, the storyline is believable, the depictions of the different situations where the protagonist finds himself are varied and well done, not just for the wide range of situations but for the time allotted and the flow of the film. It moves along smoothly, the dialogue is clear, very little mumbling, and it is generally a good cover of several other good-men-behind-bars movies from then until now. Lighting makes it easy to watch, the shots are angled well, character casting is particularly well done and the presentation of life on the inside is about as close as a mere mortal wants to get.One more thing: this film was recommended to me by an acquaintance that did 10 years in Texas.

Will not disappoint! I was hesitant at first because the title seemed unappealing. But I gave it a "shot"! ;-). Smart, provocative, suspenseful, and real. Coster-Walau brings his character to life with such emotion and strength making it quite easy for the audience to get inside his head. You can feel the decisions his character makes. You could ask yourself, "Would I do that?" But you can always understand his decisions when he makes them and then, like him, come to realize the consequences. Brilliantly directed to reveal plot twists at just the right moments throughout the film and superbly edited to show the transformations of the characters over time and circumstances. Personally, I would have chosen a better title for the film. This is one that you should watch without knowing anything about it. Don't even watch the trailer! Allow yourself to be engulfed into the story from the beginning. At the end, ask yourself what title you would pick if it were still blank.

This is a rare film. Wow. What a story. Brilliant acting. I'm almost speechless. I think there was a reviewer who said something like it's a far-fetched plot. I don't think so, since truth is stranger than fiction. And most of us fortunately will never find out what we're willing to do to survive.

A must see. Acting was superb. The movie sheds light on the over utilized prison system for non violent offenders and how the system makes these individuals into violent criminals or, worse in the prison world, victims. We follow the protagonist "Money" through his journey into the underworld of prison life, which is brutal and unforgiving, This movie is one that will stay with me for a while. I watched it twice during the rental period.

There are endless movies with a plotline on how good people turn bad when forced with the realities of prison, and a lot of them aren't very good.This one, however, really gets into the heart of how a moment of distraction can change lives forever and what it takes to survive in prison. There is a lot of violence so be prepared, but it never seemed gratuitous. The acting is superb all the way around, and where I usually find endless switching back and forth between present and past very annoying, in this case it really helped build the story in a positive way.I was at home sick with the flu when watching this, and honestly had pretty low expectations but this is a really well done movie. I was particularly impressed with how they showed the remaining humanity in the lead character couched against the violence, but it never seemed contrived.

Dieser Film ist erfrischend spannend und real gemacht und setzt sich auch etwas von den üblichen Knastfilmen ab, denn dieser Film räumt sehenswert auch mit einem Klischee auf und das lautet, dass alle Personen, die im Knast sitzen und dann auch noch einer dieser brutalen Gangs angehören, nicht lesen und schreiben können und irgendwo aus der tiefsten Unterschicht kommen. Dieser Film macht es ganz anders.In vielen Rückblenden sehen wir einen erfolgreichen Geschäftsmann, der durch einen tragischen Schicksalsschlag für mehrere Jahre ins Gefängnis muss und dort muss er erkennen, dass seine Herkunft nichts mehr gilt. Die Gefängniswelt ist eine eigene Welt mit eigenen Regeln. Hier gibt es keine sozialen Unterschiede, sondern hier gibt es eigentlich nur zwei Rassen, die Jäger oder die Opfer. Wer in einem amerikanischen Gefängnis überleben will, der muss sich entscheiden, ob er als Jäger überleben will (dann ist die Gangzugehörigkeit das einzige Mittel zu überleben) oder man entscheidet sich als Opfer und da ist der einzige Weg aus dem Gefängnis in einem Leichensack. Wer zum Schluss Nicholaj Coster Wald sieht und auch seine visuelle Verwandlung, der hätte im realen Leben mit Sicherheit darauf gewettet, dass wäre ein Monster, der aus schwierigen Familienverhältnissen stammt und sich mit dem Faustrecht durchs Leben gekämpft hat. Daher ist diese Verwandlung einer Gesellschaftsperson zu einem Outlaw ziemlich gut gemacht.Auch verfällt dieser Film nicht in das übliche Klischee, dass nun ein einsamer Wolf (wie ein Sylvester Stallone) sich durch seine Gefängniszeit schlägt, um nebenbei noch einige arme Seelen zum Guten zu bekehren. Nein, hier sieht man die dreckige Wahrheit, in der man die Regeln des Gefängnisses befolgen muss, auch wenn es im Endeffekt auf Kosten der eigenen Freiheit geht.Daher finde ich den Film bemerkenswert realistisch und die schauspielerischen Leistungen sind sehr real und gut. Das ist kein Action-Knastfilm, sondern eher ein Drama mit der realen Stimmung, wie zum Beispiel Sons of Anarchy (auch wenn das kein Knastfilm ist, wird auch hier der Fokus auf Authentizität gelegt). Daher ordne ich diesen Film dem Genre Drama zu mit sehr viel Spannung.Fazit:Das ist kein Knastfilm für die Fraktion der Action Fans, sondern das ist ein Knast Drama aus dem realen Leben. Wer also Filme mag, mit interessanter Handlung und Tiefe, der ist hier richtig. Die Brutalo-Hau-Drauf-Lone-Rider-Fans sollten sich überlegen, ob sie diesen Film sehen wollen. Hier steht Schicksal vor Gewalt, auch wenn Gewalt hier nicht zu kurz kommt.

Well worth your time and money.Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays a happily married man who's life turns into a nightmare when he accidently kills his friend in a car crash.He is sent to prison ,where the system is corrupt and joining a gang for protection is about survival.However once you join ,they own you ,for life.Its a good insight into Prison life and how good men can be turned into someone they dont want to be.

Awesome movie. Finally a movie that shows a white guy getting screwed by the system. Too often movies like this show white people as brainless neo nazies while all other races are the poor suppressed people who didn't really deserve to be there in the first place. This gives you a brutal look at what prison is like where nobody comes out as they where when they went in. Victem or warrior but you will never be the same again.

Never heard of this movie till couple of weeks ago was very impressed with trailer and really enjoyed the movie great story fantastic performance Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the lead always great to see John bernthal in a movie who im big fan of. Just thought its not quite perfect like some of my favorite movies but like i said before this a very enjoyable watch kinda wished it were longer really into the prison scenes.

Exceptional movie made by people I had previously never heard of. This became available at the same time as the insanely dreadful Brawl In Cell Block 99 and is another prison movie. Thankfully, that's all they have in common.Deep, thoughtful and understated, this is far too good, white and masculine to succeed at the Oscars. A similar film in the seventies might have swept the board though.