Shot Caller

As a matter of fact, I find it hard to watch movies lately. They all seem so commonplace... But this one really kept me going. Although the ideas are not new, they are brilliantly brought by excellent dialogues, directing and acting. A male's true role in a common family (wait till you are 50 with grown children to understand) is also depicted here with an interesting angle. I hate blowing my own horn, but even the plot got me surprised here and there which is not very common. Not for youngsters, but don't miss it.

Wow. I was wondering which good movie could be made out of a similar life situation and this movie is awesomely good! I'm angry and happy. Life can be tough if you decide to be a warrior. You make choices that can change it all just so you get in peace with yourself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Superb acting. Well-directed/edited. Wonderful score, although I could see how some may find the music overwhelming- however, it's beautiful enough to take a primary role. Actors you will recognize- always interesting. If you enjoy placing yourself in someone's shoes who must make rational and logical decisions based on the circumstances of the story, you will love this film- but only if you're prepared to think with the edge that may be necessary to survive in those shoes. Well-done.

I, like the fans of the streetwise and realistic style of the likes of David Ayer will applaud this movie. It can somewhat be seen as a spiritual prequel to the directors former great movie Felon (2008). This movie is just as good, and even feels like an epic at times. If the movie was set in the 17 century or the roman empire, many of the same themes would apply. I don't need to praise it more, others have already commented the superb cinematography and acting. While movie is good, it is sadly not flawless. The motivations of main character seems at times unreasonable. The screenplay should established a stronger motivation from the start. Why choose the impending life sentence over 18 months, if your main goal is your family well being? The dangers of not being in a gang should be more explictly adressed. It almost seems like he have a choice in the beginning, and could have been fine on his own. He wasn't particularly "unlucky" either, resulting in inevitable gang membership. And as a result of the unclear motivation, the plot then seems less tight. With some minor tweaks this would have been fixed. For all i know, i might been trimmed away in the editing room.

Give me a break, so the lead starts out as a yuppie with a great job, great house and a family, goes out with friends one night, has some drinks, gets in an accident and gets a friend killed, ending up in maximum security prison? I've never been able to verify this is true, that you do get sent to Max for DUI manslaughter, but if you had to ask me, I'd think it was unlikely. I also would think it's unlikely someone would become a big crime lord while in prison, especially coming from a DUI manslaughter charge. Come on. Like Oz, I think this movie was solely aimed to scare middle class, rich suburban types to attract more attention to it. Some ex-cons have shared their prison experiences on some other sites and basically said it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Many ex-cons also do not fit any sort of stereotype. For instance, looking at the lead coming out of prison with his hair and his shirt was hilarious. Got a huge red flag from that itself.