Written by Jonathan Asser
Directed by David Mackenzie
Eric: "I'm just saying. Said this therapy goes well and it changes my life and I rehabilitate. And then you lay it on for the next geezer and it works for him, and the next. And everything's sweet yeah? Crime rates starts to come down, police got less people to nick, courts got less people to convict. Pretty soon you're out of a job. Do you mind?"
I fancied watching a prison drama that I hadn't seen before and I landed on this one. I had heard of it before but never watched it until yesterday. Suffice to say, I'm glad I did.
Focusing on Eric Love (Jack O'Connell), he's a "starred up" prisoner and had transferred into the big boys pen for his history of violent behaviour. In fact he's barely five minutes into an adult prison before he attacked an inmate and that's barely the icing on the cake.
Instead of gracefully facing the consequences for his actions, Eric took on several officers and literally had one of them by the balls. Then there was Oliver (Rupert Friend), a volunteer group therapist who wanted to take Eric under his wing and get the best out of him. At times, it seemed like he was going to succeed.
Having Eric in a therapy of mostly black men got to see Eric open a bit more about his past and be somewhat a more thoughtful individual. Then there was Eric's father, Neville (Ben Mendelsohn). His presence certainly complicated things for Eric.
Throughout the movie, there didn't seem to be a lot of love lost between father and son. Eric promptly ignored any advice that Neville tried to give him, Neville tried to lay the law down with Eric only to get rebuffed. Oh and Eric wasn't best pleased when he realised that his father was in a relationship with his cellmate, Eric went pleased either.
There was also the threat that was Dennis (Peter Ferdinando). It seemed like he was the Top Dog of the joint but that didn't stop Eric from attacking him and then Dennis trying to have Eric killed. Dennis's plan ultimately failed and the movie ended on a tender note between Eric and Nevile with both father and son's lives taking different turns.
- A lot of this movie's based on Jonathan Asser's experience as a volunteer therapist at HM Prison Wandsworth.
- A "starred up" prisoner is someone who goes from a juvenile to an adult prison. Eric's 19 in the movie.
- There's almost no music in this movie at all, barring one scene.
- Chronology: Eric's stated to be 19 in the movie while Neville has a life sentence.
Starred Up is a great look into the prison system and the complicated relationship between an estranged father and son. The performances from Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend are sublime.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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