What you need to know about this film. 1-the camera assumes the role of a character playing a Television screen and what the Television screen sees. 2-It's a performance film.
Now with all that out of the way you also need to know that this film while watchable at times become pretentious with it's overinjection of special effects which dull the content.
I had a couple of problems with this film and one being that the gritty screenplay at times tries to "be" Jim Jarmusch in the way Jarmusch handles humor. Wacky special effects and Jarmusch-esque humor in a prison film? I don't think so. My main complaint is that the whole Fixed camera idea deflates the basic notion of film itself. Film should let the camera wander around. The fixed camera makes you feel that you are watching a play. I'm sure that the screenplay could have made a pretty good Off Broadway play but to film an entire movie from a fixed position dulls the ability of Film to transcend all arts. I suggest this film be watched but not because it's good but because it proves that the camera should roam free and this film clearly shows what happens when the camera justs stays locked in one position...it makes film boring and unwatchable.
