Steve Buscemi's directorial follow-up to the barfly
classic Trees Lounge is a mature and hard-hitting
adaptation of American crime scribe Edward Bunker's
highly regarded prison novel. In swapping Bukowski's
territory for Bunker's, the director examines an
alltogether darker side of humanity and does so with
considerable style.
When 21-year-old Ron Decker (Edward Furlong) receives
a surprisingly harsh jail sentence for dealing
marijuana, he finds himself in a vulnerable position.
Less than savvy to the way of life inside, the
good-looking young man soon attracts unwelcome
interest from some of the long-term inmates. He is
subsequently forced to approach the powerful gang
leader Earl Copen (a shaven-headed Willem Dafoe) for
protection and the two convicts slowly develop an
ambiguous and unusual relationship that leaves Ron
wondering if there will be a price to pay for Earl's
friendship.
The Animal Factory is a triumphant piece of ensemble
filmmaking that stays in the mind long after its
dramatic ending. After impressive turns in both
Pecker and American History X, Furlong is
thoroughly convincing as Ron and the often unreliable
Willem Dafoe gives a solid central performance as the
father/brother/lover figure who has already spent 18
years in the joint and knows the system inside out.
John Heard appears as Ron's father and there are also
unusual appearances from Mickey Rourke (as Ron's
transvestite cellmate) and Tom Arnold (as a deviant
who has his eyes on the youngster.) The action is
perfectly matched by John Lurie's eerie and
marvellously discordant original score and is
dramatically shot by Phil Parmet. Director Buscemi
(who has a minor role in the movie) keeps the pace
slow in order to give a detailed depiction of the
routines of prison life and presents both the racial
and sexual conflicts that exist inside. He also puts
the interior and exterior locations to good effect
with some imaginative framing and aerial camerawork.
The Animal Factory also has a cracking script that was
co-written by Bunker and manages to faithfully bring
the action to the screen.
Reviewed by Chris Wiegand
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