K-11 (2013)
Studio: Breaking Glass Pictures
Theatrical Release: March 15, 2013 (Limited)
DVD Release: April 23, 2013
Director: Jules Stewart
Not Rated
Review by Richard Rey
When record producer Raymond Saxx, Jr. (Goran Visnjic) comes to after a weekend of heavy drinking and drug use, he finds himself incarcerated in K-11, a transgender-gay prison unit in Los Angeles County. Trapped in this nightmare-turned-reality, he must find out the reason for his arrest, and even more pressing how to survive the violent lunacy of the inmates.
The movie picks up with Raymond being dumped in a cell with Butterfly (Portia Doubleday), a psychologically touched eighteen year old inmate. Flashback sequences offer well-to-do disorienting visuals and echoic voices of the officers slamming the coked-out Ray in the clink. The two prisoners are eventually taken to K-11 itself, a claustrophobic living environment (whose feel is never quite captured on camera) consisting of one large bathroom with showers and row upon row of bunk beds.
The chola that allegedly runs the clink is Mousey - a heavily made up, nearly unrecognizable Kate Del Castillo who wears the face well but whose tough-bitch role is clearly beyond her. There is not one frame when we buy into the idea that this heina-transsexual hack could in any way, shape or form physically harm Raymond. It’s increasingly evident that straight Ray could lay hands on and pummel just about any of the inmates – not excluding muscle-head molester Detroit played by Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister.
A clearly miscast Sergeant Johnson (D.B. Sweeney) plays both sides: the prominent officer of K-11 on the one hand and the wimpy snake pushover on the other. A tremendous power struggle over the usual (drugs and money) seems to be taking root within the walls of K-11. But no matter who wins out rest assured that we, the audience, do not.
The film is merely untapped potential, a laundry list of could of's that winds up offering little more than a few chuckles and a whole lot of awkward. Visjnic’s performance is noteworthy, overriding the ever-present Hollywood “typecast” mindset that actor A can’t play part Z one moment at a time. The material offers a thick slab of creative meat for the lead male to carve up; he does so with masterful precision.
While the movie’s edgy synopsis is razor-sharp, the script’s dull dialogue and melodramatic antics make for 80 minutes of offbeat, mostly awkward scenes. There is a gaping disconnect between the filmmaker’s intentions in making a raw prison drama and what’s put onscreen. K-11 is Jules Stewart’s first awkward, wobbly toddler step in the right direction as an outside-the-box Hollywood director. Sure she face-plants a few times but that’s to be expected. While she has yet to find her rhythm in regards to mood and tonality, at the end of the day more films with this kind of gritty plot should be made. Should they be made with more tact, depth and dramatic tension? Absolutely.
However, the DVD contains plenty when it comes to special features including: a music video of the original song My Liberty by actor/songwriter Billy Morrison, deleted scenes, interviews with Visnjic, del Castillo, and Sweeney plus a short-lived behind the scenes look into the making of the film.
[Rating: 2]
Theatrical Release: March 15, 2013 (Limited)
DVD Release: April 23, 2013
Director: Jules Stewart
Not Rated
Review by Richard Rey
When record producer Raymond Saxx, Jr. (Goran Visnjic) comes to after a weekend of heavy drinking and drug use, he finds himself incarcerated in K-11, a transgender-gay prison unit in Los Angeles County. Trapped in this nightmare-turned-reality, he must find out the reason for his arrest, and even more pressing how to survive the violent lunacy of the inmates.
The movie picks up with Raymond being dumped in a cell with Butterfly (Portia Doubleday), a psychologically touched eighteen year old inmate. Flashback sequences offer well-to-do disorienting visuals and echoic voices of the officers slamming the coked-out Ray in the clink. The two prisoners are eventually taken to K-11 itself, a claustrophobic living environment (whose feel is never quite captured on camera) consisting of one large bathroom with showers and row upon row of bunk beds.
The chola that allegedly runs the clink is Mousey - a heavily made up, nearly unrecognizable Kate Del Castillo who wears the face well but whose tough-bitch role is clearly beyond her. There is not one frame when we buy into the idea that this heina-transsexual hack could in any way, shape or form physically harm Raymond. It’s increasingly evident that straight Ray could lay hands on and pummel just about any of the inmates – not excluding muscle-head molester Detroit played by Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister.
A clearly miscast Sergeant Johnson (D.B. Sweeney) plays both sides: the prominent officer of K-11 on the one hand and the wimpy snake pushover on the other. A tremendous power struggle over the usual (drugs and money) seems to be taking root within the walls of K-11. But no matter who wins out rest assured that we, the audience, do not.
The film is merely untapped potential, a laundry list of could of's that winds up offering little more than a few chuckles and a whole lot of awkward. Visjnic’s performance is noteworthy, overriding the ever-present Hollywood “typecast” mindset that actor A can’t play part Z one moment at a time. The material offers a thick slab of creative meat for the lead male to carve up; he does so with masterful precision.
While the movie’s edgy synopsis is razor-sharp, the script’s dull dialogue and melodramatic antics make for 80 minutes of offbeat, mostly awkward scenes. There is a gaping disconnect between the filmmaker’s intentions in making a raw prison drama and what’s put onscreen. K-11 is Jules Stewart’s first awkward, wobbly toddler step in the right direction as an outside-the-box Hollywood director. Sure she face-plants a few times but that’s to be expected. While she has yet to find her rhythm in regards to mood and tonality, at the end of the day more films with this kind of gritty plot should be made. Should they be made with more tact, depth and dramatic tension? Absolutely.
However, the DVD contains plenty when it comes to special features including: a music video of the original song My Liberty by actor/songwriter Billy Morrison, deleted scenes, interviews with Visnjic, del Castillo, and Sweeney plus a short-lived behind the scenes look into the making of the film.
[Rating: 2]
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