CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Film Review: Brutal Coming-of-Rage Prison Drama ‘Starred Up’
CHICAGO – Opening this weekend at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque after a week on VOD is “Starred Up,” a bloody-knuckles British prison drama that was also a favorite at the most recent Chicago Critics Film Festival. This is an at-times beastly movie that follows in the line of previous character-driven jail films like “Chopper” (starring Eric Bana), or Tom Hardy’s raging breakout movie “Bronson”.
Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
While this movie may not have the narrative muscle of these references, this odyssey into a hidden world does feature two actors well on their way to becoming global obsessions, Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn.
O’Connell plays Eric Love, a raging teenager dumped into an adult prison to carry out a drug-related sentence. After asserting his power to his fellow inmates with an act of violence (and nearly killing someone albeit unintentionally), he makes a connection with his father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) who’s in the middle of serving out a much longer term. While Eric remains a hothead ready to clash with authority, Neville tries to guide Eric in a productive direction, his last attempt at fatherhood, while protecting him from the chain reaction of violence Eric has started. At the same time, Eric undergoes a form of anger management with other inmates as orchestrated by non-convict Oliver Beamer (Rupert Friend). All of this is overseen by members of administration who themselves perpetuate the violent mores of the prison.
Jack O’Connell in ‘‘Starred Up’
Photo credit: Tribeca Film