Shot Caller - Movie Review
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the interest as it follows a fine, upstanding man behind bars and transforms him into a criminal mastermind. If the premise sounds familiar, perhaps you've seen Jacques Audiard's soulful 2009 masterpiece A Prophet. Well, this is more like a blow to the head. And by emphasising the characters' thuggishness over anything more nuanced, filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch) seems to betray the fact that he thinks brutality is inherently entertaining.
The story centres on Jacob (Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a successful banker with a happy home life with his wife and son (Lake Bell and Jonathan McClendon). Then he's involved in a drunk-driving incident and convicted of manslaughter. And in jail he's adopted by the white supremacist gang, pushed to commit such nasty violence that he cuts off all contact with his family when he's finally released a decade or so later. But he also clearly has a plan now, hiding from his tough-guy parole officer Kutcher (Omari Hardwick) to set up a dodgy operation with former prison-mate Frank (Jon Bernthal) and young military veteran Howie (Emory Cohen). Orchestrating all of this is the big boss (Holt McCallany), who is imprisoned for life.
Thankfully, the actors all add texture to their characters, bringing them to life even if the movie itself seems uninterested in anything beneath the surface. Coster-Waldau is terrific at capturing Jacob's inner decency and steely survival instinct as he transforms from a slick financial analyst into a muscled killing machine. But of course it's his internal journey that is far more interesting. Hardwick and Bernthal are solid as tough guys who feel a bit simplistic. But Bell has some properly steely moments as a woman who simply won't give up on her man even when he tells her to, and Cohen finds some intriguing layers in the quirky, shell-shocked Howie.
Along the way, there are quite a few glaring plot holes, mainly in the rush to exaggerated military-style police action. And Waugh's decision to use a parallel story structure completely diffuses any suspense. By intercutting between Jacob's early days in prison and the mission he launches when he gets out, we never doubt what will happen. Still, there's some subtext to undercut the excessively macho atmosphere. And while the central message is seriously shaky (you need to be a killer to survive in this nasty world!), there's a driving energy to the film that never lets go.
Rich Cline
Facts and Figures
Year: 2017
Genre: Thriller
Production compaines: Bold Films, Participant Media, Relativity Media, Directv
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 2.5 / 5
Cast & Crew
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Producer: Ric Roman Waugh, Jonathan King, Michel Litvak, Gary Michael Walters
Screenwriter: Ric Roman Waugh
Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jacob / Money, Jon Bernthal as Frank 'Shotgun', Lake Bell as Kate, Omari Hardwick as Kutcher, Michael Landes as Steve, Jeffrey Donovan as Bottles, Benjamin Bratt as Sanchez, Emory Cohen as Howie, Jessy Schram as Jennifer, Matt Gerald as Phil Cole, Evan Jones as Chopper, Holt McCallany as The Beast, Juan Pablo Raba as Herman Gomez, Chris Browning as Redwood / Toby Simms, Sarah Minnich as Janie, Keith Jardine as Ripper, Monique Candelaria as Herman's Wife / Lola, Max Greenfield as Tom, Brendan Kelly as Large Biker, John Trejo as SHU Guard, Dylan Kenin as Trustee, Danny Winn as Doyle (SWAT), Matthew Page as SHU Guard, Mark Sivertsen as LT. Roberts, Brandon K. Hampton as Young Black Inmate, Jonathon McClendon as Joshua, Chris Adams as Inmate, Esodie Geiger as Judge, David House as Capt. Freeman, Michael Sheets as Lead Officer, Mike Ostroski as Banker-Type, Nathaniel Augustson as Chef, J. Nathan Simmons as Prison Inmate, Howard Ferguson Jr. as Basketball Opponent, Joshua R. Aragon as Inmate, Jacob Browne as AD Seg Guard, Cru Ennis as Jason Horvath, Jetto Dorsainville as Bailiff, Marika Day as Punk-Rocker Girl, David Miller as Prisoner, Diana Gaitirira as R&R Guard, Joseph P. Santillanes as Back-Up Police Officer, Derek Dinniene as Young Joshua, Bobby Lee Osborn as Lenny, Ivan Brutsche as SHU Guard, Cajardo Lindsey as Chino Guard, Diego Joaquin Lopez as Cellmate Lopez, Rodger Larance as Pedestrian, Jose B. Martinez as Prisoner, Alexander Daniel Pimentel as Executive Basketball Player, Michael Benjamin Kirby as Prison Inmate, Euphrates 'Tee' Arthur as Prison Inmate, Dash Hamblin as Store Manager, Fred Padilla as Inmate, Jonathan Lane as Basketball Opponent, Johnathan Paul Pena as Featured Prisoner, J.D. Herrera as Prosecuting Attorney
Also starring: Jonathan King