Have a look at this strong indie piece. Though primarily a limited location shoot, Jesse Baget (director/writer) gives the picture a big open feel with a rich set up that prepares the viewer nicely for the 2-bed cell that awaits.

Though Tom Sizemore often plays heavy, dark, even mean roles, it's a pleasure to see him in a different light here. This is not your ordinary prison film, it's quirky, fun, funny, and even meaningful. Despite his role as grandmaster of the KKK, Sizemore seems to be rather sympathetically misguided. And the raw stupid racism he portrays is more a caricature to be pitied and laughed at than an offense to viewers. Hector Jimenez reacts to it splendidly.

It's actually a sweet little script lovingly realized on film, artfully lit, intimately acted. Stacy Keach brings a bit of "Boss Hog" to his role as Potato-loving Warden and Chris Farley appears briefly. This piece would adapt nicely to stage.

Lastly, Baget reaches for some of the oddest expressions out of Sizemore and Jimenez and pushes them even farther with the occasional fish-eye lens. This could easily have come off as far too silly, but in the context of the tone of the film -- it all works very nicely. One humorous sequence is edited so perfectly, it had me laughing uncontrollably.

The end feels just a tad rushed. As a matter of taste, I would have preferred a little more development to the climax and resolution (something equivalent to that nice set-up). Nevertheless, despite the fact that it's not so hard to see where the film is going, it never stops being engaging and enjoyable on its way.

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