Checked out a recommended film on Amazon Prime streaming called Shot Caller. This is a gritty prison/crime drama about a white-collar accountant thrown into a maximum security prison after a DUI that killed and injured a couple of people. It’s most notable for starring Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in a rare starring roll outside of the show.
The movie hinges on whether or not Coster-Waldau can carry the film and I’m happy to report he can. He shows how innocence and fear can turn into hardened but regretful as he is forced to decide if he’ll be a warrior or a victim in the big house. He’s helped by an array of facial hair that helps his performance to be Not-Jamie-Lannister.
In prison, he has to join up with a gang of white supremacists for protection and the movie shows how a good man can be turned bad. The “hero” is not a good person, though what he does, he does for good reasons.
The film bounces back and forth from his parole after ten years served to his entrance into prison and conversion into a warrior. The scenes on the outside are a little formulaic as far as crime dramas go… and the scenes on the inside are too as far as prison dramas go. The film, as mentioned, works because of the acting (which also includes John Bernthal and Lake Bell), less so the originality. But, between the acting and directing, they manage to pull off a pretty compelling drama using some old tropes.
Overall, a pretty good movie. Not super original but I think it knows what tropes to wallow in to pull off a good, strong dramatic punch. Special kudos to Coster-Waldau for using his between-season gigs to good effect.
Score: 81