Animal Factory (2000)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Steve Buscemi

Writers (WGA):

Edward Bunker (novel)
Edward Bunker (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 August 2000 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

On the Inside the Rules Are Brutal And the Stakes Are High

Plot:

A young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Parole | Drugs | Marijuana | Gang

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Willem Dafoe	...	Earl Copen
Edward Furlong	...	Ron Decker
Danny Trejo	...	Vito
Mark Boone Junior	...	Paul Adams
Seymour Cassel	...	Lt. Seeman
Mickey Rourke	...	Jan the Actress
Tom Arnold	...	Buck Rowan
John Heard	...	James Decker
Chris Bauer	...	Bad Eye
Rockets Redglare	...	Big Rand
Jake La Botz	...	Jesse (as Jake LaBotz)
Mark Engelhardt	...	T.J.
Edward Bunker	...	Buzzard
Victor Pagan	...	Psycho Mike
Ernest Harden Jr.	...	Richland

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, violence and drug use.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:16 (video premiere) | Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Animal Productions LLC

Trivia:

During the show scene, a vocalist is musically accompanied by a violinist and accordionist - the singer is Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) and the song which he sings a version of is "Rapture" which can be found on the band's self-titled album from 2000.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ron's hair when he first meets Earl.

Quotes:

Earl Copen: Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.

Soundtrack:

Demon

Underrated, but will be enjoyed by few...

Whew. What can I say. This was a fascinating film that was very hard to turn away from (even to answer the phone!). Edward Furlong turns in another very solid performance as a too-young-to-be-in-this-type-of-place prisoner and Willem Dafoe was very interesting as his would-be mentor.

Prison films are always tough to make as they tend to lean heavily upon stereotypes (the prisoner who runs the prison, male rape scenes, the violence in the prison yard) and this film is no exception. Buscemi gets away with it by making it all seem so workaday and routine, which in some ways is even more frightening.

Overall I enjoyed this film but I imagine the audience for a stark prison flick is pretty small. Kudos to Buscemi for having the nerve to make it, tho.