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MOVIES / ON DVD / LET'S GO TO PRISON
Let's Go to Prison

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Let's Go to Prison (2006)

8%
8%
37%
N/A
N/A
N/A
8 %
Reviews Counted: 37 Fresh: 3  Rotten:34 Average Rating: 2.8/10
 
Consensus: Guilty on all counts of failure to ellicit laughs. Let's Go to Prison is guilty on all counts of cliched setups, base humor, and failure to ellicit laughs. more
 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Theatrical Release: Nov 17, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $4,613,815
Synopsis:
When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz — or perhaps classics in the making like The Shawshank Redemption, In the Name of the Father and The Green Mile. These important works... [More]
When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz — or perhaps classics in the making like The Shawshank Redemption, In the Name of the Father and The Green Mile. These important works of art have two things in common: 1) they explore the fears and triumphs of unjustly arrested men railing against a cruel system and 2) they serve as a cornerstone of American dramatic cinema. Well...Let's Go To Prison shares one of those tenets. Frankly, we felt obligated to contribute to this genre of filmmaking with our own take on the core issues that inmates routinely face in 2006. While overcrowding and recidivism are topical and vital issues to address, so are other unique themes. In this film, we just happen to have the soap dropping that Steve McQueen never discovered and toilet wine that Dustin Hoffman failed to manufacture in Papillon. Based upon a non fiction book about how to stay out of jail (and/or survive it once you know you're headed upriver), Let's Go To Prison is an uncompromising, no-holdsbarred revenge comedy helmed by BOB ODENKIRK, the director who brought sketchcomedy fans Mr. Show With Bob and David. And he's about to give us everything that's been missing from the typical prison movie in his fresh, probing look at our penal system—rife with plenty of sweet, cloistered, man love. Felon John Lyshitski (DAX SHEPARD, Punk'd, Employee of the Month, Without a Paddle) has figured out the best way to get revenge on the now-dead judge who sent him to jail: "help" the official's obnoxious son, Nelson Biederman the IVth (WILL ARNETT, Arrested Development, RV, Blades of Glory), try to survive the clink. John strikes gold when Nelson is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to the same penitentiary he used to call home. He gleefully sells pot to undercover cops and gets sent back to become Nelson's cellmate, ensuring that his new buddy gets the full treatment common in American penitentiaries. Let the games begin. Lesson #1: The joint's a scary place, so you better make friends fast. Right away, Nelson offends the wrong cons and is sold—by John—to Barry (CHI McBRIDE, The Nine, The Terminal, Undercover Brother) for prison snuggling. But the moment that revenge starts tasting sweet, Nelson becomes Big Man in the Big House and turns the tables on John...changing the rules of his insane game. November 17, 2006 is the day to shower with thugs, sip toilet wine and sharpen your shivs as the locked-up are set up in Carsey-Werner Films' inaugural title and Strike Entertainment's latest production: Let's Go To Prison, a Universal Pictures release. --© Universal Pictures [Less]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Chi McBride, Paul Young, Dylan Baker

Director: Bob Odenkirk
Producer: Marc Abraham, Matt Berenson

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 6, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Note: This release includes both unrated and rated versions on one side of the disc.
  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
  • Single Side - Dual Layer

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Alternate Scenes - 1. Alternate Ending
  • 2. Deleted Scenes
  • 3. Extended Scenes
  • Behind the Scenes - Soundtrack Sessions

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

evern less funny than brothers solomon

Full Review | Comment
04/24/08 12:07 PM
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
Ratings Image

The short and the sweet of it: Let's Go to Prison is one of the worst pieces of Hollywood garbage I have ever seen.

Full Review | Comment
06/21/07 07:39 PM
Ryan Cracknell
Calgary Movies
Ratings Image

...has its share of effective moments - most of which come courtesy of star Will Arnett...

Full Review | Comment
05/17/07 03:15 AM
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

Though sloppily edited like a bad B-movie, this poor man's version of Trading Places will undoubtedly resonate for anyone with a taste for gruesome gallows humor, and a desire to see a spoiled, rich kid get a taste of how the other half lives.

Full Review | Comment
03/27/07 08:00 AM
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze
Ratings Image

89 minutes that drag on like, well, a prison sentence.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/07 03:43 AM
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

its off-kilter wit is displayed with stinginess (or is it laziness?).

Full Review | Comment
01/15/07 07:33 PM
Jesse Hassenger
Filmcritic.com
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Oh gee, let's not.

Full Review | Comment
12/04/06 12:24 AM
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
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Let's not. And say we did.

Full Review | Comment
12/03/06 11:09 PM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
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Prison makes its 84-minute running time feel like a five-year sentence with no chance for parole.

Full Review | Comment
11/27/06 12:55 PM
Nathan Rabin
Onion AV Club
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
11/25/06 06:38 AM
Onion AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
11/25/06 06:38 AM
Chicago Tribune
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Ratings Image

It's hard to get laughs out of stuff that devolved into parody 10 or 20 years ago.

Full Review | Comment
11/23/06 07:07 PM
Gregory Kirschling
Entertainment Weekly
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Ratings Image

Life's too short.

Full Review | Comment
11/22/06 09:11 PM
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
11/22/06 03:17 AM
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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Ratings Image

Consider this one disarmed and extremely pointless.

Full Review | Comment
11/21/06 02:10 PM
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
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If movies could be punished, Let's Go to Prison would be sent to solitary confinement for impersonating a prison comedy.

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 04:34 PM
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News
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As crazy and subversive as Let's Go to Prison's makers might believe it to be, it's too undisciplined and predictable to amount to anything

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 02:13 PM
Mark Pfeiffer
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Ratings Image

Arnett underplays to the point where he seems as shellshocked as his character, while Shepard seems to have forgotten that the film is supposed to be a comedy.

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 12:21 PM
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
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Because the movie can't bring itself to take that leap into full-on absurdity, the characters and comic opportunities stay confined to their cells.

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 11:10 AM
Michael Ordoña
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Let's Go to Prison feels like an overextended sketch-comedy idea insufficiently filled out by subsidiary characters (few significantly figure) or standout setpieces.

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 11:03 AM
Dennis Harvey
Variety
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Related Forums

i couldn't articulate why i didn't like this movie
by: Writing in the Dark 11/18/07


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I feel bad
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Nothing Funny About Prison
by: newton98 3/7/07


May actually be funny.
by: Krooked 12/4/06
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Around the Network

• Let's Go to Prison at Rotten Tomatoes
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• Let's Go to Prison at AskMen
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