LOOK UP LOCK UP (Lock Up (DVD))

Name: NikkiH

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Lock Up (DVD)
Date:	22/04/01 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining

Disadvantages: Far fetched at times

This film ranks among one of the better ones made by Sylvester Stallone, although its critical success does not bear this out.

Stallone plays Frank Leone, a quiet, honest, hard working man, who is sent to prison after his surrogate father is beaten brutally, and he finds the culprits and makes them pay for their crime. The only flaw is that the director has tried to make him too nice, gazing thoughtfully at old school photos, plaing with the local kids, and being a boyfriend most women think only exist in dreams.

1 week from release Frank escapes to go to his mentors deathbed, and is given a further 5 year sentence as punishment. He is sent to Gateway Prison from his original minimum security prison, and as soon as you see it, you realise the place must be hell on earth. Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland) rules the prison his way, and does not tolerate anyone not abiding by his rules. When it is explained that he has an old score to settle with Frank, you realise that the whole thing is a set up. Drumgoole is bitter as Frank is the only man to ever escape from a prison under Drumgoole's control.

Frank changes from mild mannered to a man with an iron spirit. Drumgoole and his guards try every technique possible to break him, and even torture does not work. He stops himself hitting back though, as this will only result in an increased sentence, and all he wants to do is get home. The savage beatings are a bit extreme, but they prove necessary in order for Frank to warrant the treatment he gives them back later in the film.

A little far fetched that any human being could take the treatment he does, and still fight back, but suspend reality for a moment and you will enjoy.

Donald Sutherland is excellent, he looks younger than he has in other movies, and he plays the evil warden so well, and so believeable. When Frank first comes to the prison Drumgoole meets him and says "Welcome to Gateway, Leone. This is Hell, a

nd I am going to give you a guided tour". He played the character like that all of the way through the film. He is a great villian.

I found the film enjoyable, it is not a classic by any means, but is pure unadulterated entertainment.

Summary: