Against the Wall

For a TV movie, this is quite good. It's the true story of the Attaca prison break, which caused a hell of a ruckus back in the seventies and started all sorts of prison rights and liberation talk. The film is a tautly trimmed, suspenseful and well acted production with a good cast including Sam L. Jackson and Kyle MacLachlan.

A rookie prison guard at Attaca finds himself immersed in the awful treatment of the prisoners, and has a hard time reprimanding the prisoners. He's then unwittingly slung into a violent prison break, and held hostage by the prisoners.

There are some unnecessarily offensive and crude moments in the film, which are not relevant and are entirely superfluous. The violence is quite impactful, and the film deserves a high rating.

Six out of ten.

Not that this matters with regard to the quality of the movie but this was one of the first original movies made for HBO where they didn't have to sell their soul to a movie studio.

Enough preaching, this is on the level of Shawshank. In my opinion better but different. Prison is hell for the guards and the inmates. Sometimes the inmates need to revolt and this movie does a good job taking a real situation and presents both sides of the story perfectly. You feel for the inmates, you feel for the guards. The problem is the system.

The acting is great and this isn't a politically correct movie or a movie with a political agenda with the exception of an anti government theme.

I would recommend this film to anybody with a sense of personal freedom or revolt against the system. I am surprised this isn't a cult movie on the lines of A Clockwork Orange.

HBO was really kicking some ass during this time. It's a shame this one isn't more known; Kyle MacLachlan and Samuel L. Jackson really acted their hearts out in this sad, mind-blowing true story about Attica Prison. Highly underrated and by all means should've been a hit.

Against the Wall is another one of those movies that just slipped away. Its about the true story of the take-over of Attica Prison by the in-mates in 1971 and is seen through the eyes of a novice prison warden (Kyle MacLachlan).

Although made for cable, what make this brilliant movie different from the others are the incredibly brutal prison scenes and unsettling violence (one scene has an unlucky wardens' head slammed between two iron doors) and the brutality of the film, along with the nudity, may turn off some viewers.

The acting is some of the best I've ever seen. The characters are not stereotyped and are actually quite believable. Samuel L Jackson, in particular is a highlight as a black inmate while Kyle MacLachlan is just as good as a sympathetic warden. These performances give the film a lot of depth and the bonding between these two is very powerful.

John Frankenheimer direction is incredibly good and that sets the mood for this powerful and sad movie. Check it out but be aware that this is not a happy movie. ***/****

"Against the Wall" reveals a reality everyone knows is there and yet is afraid to look at. Our Correctional System not only doesn't help any in the ressocialization of the inmate, but also generates more violence. What makes this movie a great movie it the fact that you won't stop thinking about it the moment it's over. This is real life, this is true. And you'll think of it over and over when you lay down to sleep.