Product Description

Based on a true story that occured on the 1930s. A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend a hard-core prisoninmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31641 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 1999-06-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 122 minutes

From The New Yorker
In 1941, an inmate of Alcatraz, Henri Young (Kevin Bacon), is tried for killing a fellow-prisoner. It seems like a clean case until a pushy young lawyer (Christian Slater) argues that the real killer is Alcatraz itself, and in particular the prison's sadistic warden (Gary Oldman, as you would expect). Marc Rocco has a solid story to tell, and his movie splits neatly between a sweat-lashed opening and a solid courtroom follow-up. But he keeps beefing up his material with paranoid camera angles and nose-rubbing closeups-if you've ever had a weakness for overhead shots, this film will cure you. Rocco is the director turned defense attorney: his driving motive is to prove rather than to show, and his hammer blows (along with Bacon's and Oldman's) would wear you down fast if it weren't for Christian Slater. With severe spectacles, the actor looks like a younger version of Kevin Costner in "JFK," but he has a sly inquisitor's passion-a taste for milking witnesses until they run dry, for seeing the high comedy of it all-that Costner never dared to suggest. Playing the hero of an issues movie (and this one is dripping with issues) is usually a thankless task, but Slater gets better with every picture and carries this one with ease. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Heartrending Prison Drama
This is a remarkable piece of Hollywood filmmaking, one of the best big studio efforts of the 90's and it was so poorly marketed that few have seen - or heard of - this picture.

The too often (and sometimes easily) dismissed Kevin Bacon is here Henri Young, a role as powerfully haunting as any actor could dream of. With an uncannily natural affinity for Henri, Bacon finds his way into the marrow of this tortured, downtrodden prisoner. In what could have too easily turned into a over-the-top "Look, Ma, I'm acting!" role, Bacon strikes a balance that is unique and rare. Unafraid of any aspect of Henri it becomes a performance nothing less than astonishing in its honesty.

The first 20 minutes presents us with the naked, filthy animal the system wishes to portray him as Henri. Yet, even here, with little more than a mad scene comprised of grunts, screams and incoherent mumblings about baseball, multiplication tables and The Lord's Prayer, Bacon makes Henri shine beneath the hair and grime introducing us to a pitiable sorrowful man not only wronged by the system, but utterly destroyed then forgotten by it. This is one of those rare performances where the work outshines the actor - I'd forgotten entirely I was even watching an actor.

It's a hard heart that will not be moved by Henri and Bacon should look back at this performance with nothing but pride. (The fact he was not nominated for an Oscar is astonishing as his performance.)

Christian Slater gives one of his best performances as well and Gary Oldman is, (predictably) wonderfully evil as is William H. Macy. The court room scenes fairly crackle, but ultimately the heart and soul of this movie is found in Kevin Bacon's Henri.

Everything else about this production shines - with 30 year old director, Marc Rocco at the helm, giving a strong vision to the entire proceeding. San Francisco looks marvelous and Christopher Young's soundtrack (eerily foreshadowing Kamen's score for "Band of Brothers") adds the final overwhelming touch.

Not to be missed.

The Gripping True Story...
...of the trial the ultimately put Alcatraz out of commision. Kevin Bacon gives one of his finest roles as a man who has spent three torturous years in solitary confinement on Alcatraz, let out for exercise for a half hour per year and viciously tortured and beaten by the Warren.

All of the acting in the movie is good, and the drama and suspense building is masterful. During the movie, you can really feel for and empathize with the characters, and even though its not a cool jail movie like Shawshank Redemption, it is every bit as good, especially in that it is a true story.

This is also an incredibly hard movie to watch at times. When the guy being slashed with a razor, or digging a spoon into a guys throat, or even just sobbing pitifully because his organ isn't working right after three years of malnutritioned hell, this movie has the capability of leaving you wincing in your seat.

This is not a movie to sit back, relax and enjoy, but rather one which you should watch and learn from.

WHERE WAS OSCAR THAT YEAR?
Having just come off this year's Oscars, one need look no further than MURDER IN THE FIRST to see how the awards are merely an extravagant popularity contest that more often than not misses truly outstanding performances. Kevin Bacon's performance in this powerful film is tremendous and more than worthy of just a nomination, but a winner. Kevin brilliantly captures the person who is Henri Young. Physically, emotionally, Bacon brings a rare depth to a complex and wrongly treated person. Christian Slater, who I have long considered an average performer, also shines in this role as David, the public defender who fights to show the real villain - Alcatraz itself. Gary Oldman is superb as the assistant warden to whom cruelty and inhumanity is as natural as drinking water. Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Kyra Sedgwick (as a hooker who tries to "service" Henri) and even the hammy F. Lee Ermey provide excellent support. To those reviewers who claimed the movie was phoney, poo poo on you. I found myself riveted to the screen and Bacon's performance alone should earn the movie five stars!