A Violent Man

Heavy hard going. Don't watch if you need cheering up.

Craig Fairbrass, although is by now too typecast for his talent, is brilliant as usual. Carries a dark dark film further than it could have gone without him.

Portrait of a violent man. Everyone involved should be proud of this production. Fairbrass has never been better.

More like a play than a movie but with cinematic quality. Everyone performs their part carefully and maturely, I believed them all. At the helm is Fairbrass who carries the film with menace and compassion. Following his performance in Muscle, Fairbrass has proven he ihas more subtlety than the extremes of Pat Tate. His choices as an actor have smartly stretched and I'm glad to have my expectations as a fan change with satisfaction.

Ultimately though director, Ross McCall, must take the credit. I'd never heard of him but I'll watch for his future projects with interest too.

A very powerful, grim but compelling prison drama focused primarily on a prisoner serving life with no chance of ever being released.

The whole movie is set in one prison cell without a single glimpse of the outside world. It's a hard hitting exploration of coming to terms with life with no hope.

The acting is superb which really gives the impact intended by the writer of this extremely grim tale.

Part of me was eager for the movie to end as it was so depressing but I am glad that I watched it. If nothing else it makes the viewer glad not to share such a hopeless future.

My only complaint is that I found the dialogue difficult to understand as the characters tended to mumble a lot. Perhaps it was just the sound recording but I kept having to turn up the volume, yet still I couldn't understand it all.

All in all I thought the movie was very good but don't watch it if you need cheering up.

When I first read the synopsis I thought this would be another cheaply made prison B-movie, with tons of macho cliches. None of that though.

The good: seriously good acting performances by all actors involved, but especially the leading actor is quite impressive to watch.

More good: we only get to see the inside of the dark prison cells, but despite these small and claustrophobic prison cells, there is still lots of great photography to be seen, underscored with a decent soundtrack. I hadnt expected these kind of qualities in such a low budget movie.

Not any bad? Well, this story is simply too bleak and depressing to my likings. This movie will never get popular for that very reason, but I aint saying it is a bad movie because of that. Not at all.

One thing was bugging me though, because there is a lack in dramatic development in the story, because there simply is not any sort of gripping storyline, which could have kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. There was only more of the same bleak and depressing scenes of prison life, minute after minute... Understandable of course, because repetitious, depressing lving conditions is what real prison life is about, but movie making isnt. Kinda missed opportunity, to make this movie rise beyond what it is effectively now: a hardhitting, depressing portrait of the destructive prison conditions.

Well acted though. And impressively portrayed. But I guess only suited for those who can stumach such a bleak and depressing story...

I said else where that I thought Craig Fairbrass had a decent performance in him if he got right role and this might be it. OK he's not going to turn up in a Merchant Ivory type offering any time soon but in this role he was very believable and believable without being over the top.

This is a movie with a serious message and I am worried that the kind of men it is trying to reach will simply get off on the violence and the teenage boy type machismo that seems to keep them in an extended childhood. I guess it's about choices really, choices and what you're willing to sacrifice in order to carry on living like an animal with no conscience.