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Release Date: August 4th, 2006 (Village East Cinemas) by Kindred Media Group. The Cast: Stephen Adly Guirgis, Michael Pitt, Laila Robins, David Zayas. Directed by Brett C. Leonard. BASIC PREMISE: Randy (Pitt), a young man, bonds with Jake (Guirgis), a middle-aged man, in a prison cell. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: Just by reading the basic premise, Jailbait initially seems like it could be an interesting character study. Unfortunately, it's far from that. Randy appears shy at first but soon opens up to his older and stronger cellmate, Jake. For most of the film they get to know one another on the surface—particularly discussing about their sex life in detail. Not surprisingly, Jake dominates Randy both physically and mentally to the point that it seems like torture. The plot simply needs a more imagination with clearer conflicts and more interesting characters. Even the monotonous, gritty cinematography doesn’t really add much other than give the look of a documentary given its grainy, digital medium. It would have been much more engaging if Jake and Randy talked more about interesting things aspects of their background so that this would be more than just a dull “slice” of prison life. On a positive note, Michael Pitt does give a decent performance and no other actor would have fit the role of Randy so appropriately. If only he had more material to work with. Essentially, Jailbait is just one long, meandering second act with a weak third act. There’s nothing really wrong with deviating from the standard rules of a screenplay, but at least it should ultimately have some form of entertainment value to compensate. SPIRITUAL VALUE: Unfortunately, none. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Unimaginative, dull and meandering. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 8 IN A NUTSHELL: Michael Pitt delivers a terrific performance, but the film itself is unimaginative, meandering and often dull. RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: TV Main Page Alphabetical Menu The "J" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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