Prison Song

I was told about this movie by a friend. He said it was one of the best movies he had seen. Unfortunately he told me the ending, but I won't spoil that for you...

"Prison Song" is a film about a boy brought up in group homes with a gift of art. He does beautiful drawings and is an excellent photographer. He is accepted to college and at first his gets a full scholarship but then something changes and it is taken away. This is one of the many times our principle character is let down. He gives up on his dream and gets angry. He ends up picking a fight with one of the boys from the group home and kills him. He ends up in jail 15 years to life.

The movie to me is a Musical Relief. Actors do break out into song or rap throughout the movie but fortunately this break from spoken word to words of rhythm and melody has a smooth transition. Transitions are so smooth that it seems almost real, like it was something anyone would do when reflecting.

Rapper, Q-tip, place the principle character and plays it well. Though he is quiet most of the time, the viewer will feel almost every emotion he does, even when his face is plain as a blank piece of paper. Through the film you grow to love the character and feel bad that things worked out the way they did. He is like many Black men, like many men period, talented but locked in jail.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a prison movie with a lot of heart in it. Characters are deep and the story line is rich.

It is interesting to see a hood prison movie incorporate musical elements the way they did here. Unfortunately, this musical aspect is only seen in small instances, and as a consequence, it ends up not feeling so much of a hood drama musical all together. Now, I am not saying that the best thing the film has going is the musical take on the genre of films, but if it was not for the scenes where the actors rap, then this would be not much different than most of the other films that portray prison life.

Musical segments don't always work that well. I think it's Amazing that SNOW of Informer is in this as a guard. He is very talented has like 5 Albums. He should've had a musical scene. Even if he did play a guard, it could've been a dream scene where qtip dream the guard sang his reggage rap.

I had it in DVD then sold it.

As many of the other reviewers have stated, this movie presents to us a character with dreams of creating a "good life" for himself, who ends up falling into the prison system. Q-Tip and Darnell Martin do a great job in developing a script that embodies a trueness to the characters, which I am sure that the cast helped expand on. The silent moments of the film present the best moments (especially the last minutes where his works are displayed).

The movie takes ideas from many other prison films, however I have never seen a film present anything about asbestos and prisoners having to work in these conditions. After watching the DVD, I only wish that commentary were added and interviews at least with the director and writers. Worth a watch (or two). 8/10

Prison Song is a very good movie about broken dreams and injustices in the prsion system. The direction by Darnell Martin is better than her last film I Like It Like That. The screenplay by lead actor Q-Tip is also very good for first time out. Look for cameo's by Mary J. Blighe, Noreaga and Fta Joe.