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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (33) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (6) | DVD (3)
You come away with the sense that you should have come to care (or at least to know) more about its central characters than you do.
It's the relationship between Willem Dafoe, as Earl, the hard-time veteran, and Edward Furlong, as Ron, the new boy he takes under his wing, that makes the film so compelling.
The bleakness and myriad cruelties of the prison system are telegraphed with a graceful touch.
A picture about adapting one's instincts, and Mr. Buscemi's deftness works well in this context.
The opaque performances offer little in the way of shading.
"Animal Factory" shows in unflinching scenes of stabbings, race riots, drug use, attempted rape, and constantly boiling chaotic violence, how hardened criminals are formed by incessant molding inside American penitentiaries.
What it does lack is a performance by Furlong that's the equal of Dafoe's.
We may have seen this type of Animal before, but Furlong and Dafoe's work -- and Buscemi's honest, caring touch with these fringe-dwellers -- make it seem fresh.
there are two reasons to fast-forward this offering when it's released on video: (1) Mickey Rourke's over-the-top bejeweled drag queen and (2) Tom Arnold's truly rotten performance as a baddy who has the hots for boy-buns. Roseanne's finally gotten her re
Prison flick from ex-con screenwriter is raw and realistic, with powerful acting.
A scary and unflinching look at prison life.
Similar to "Shawshank", "Animal Factory" is a far-less-established outing, but never the less interesting. Without the weighty support cast it mightn't have been as intriguing though, because there's a lack of depth missing from the screenplay
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Steve Buscemi proves here the extent of his talent, both as a screen presence and as a fine director. Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong share great chemistry and Danny Trejo brings in a few laughs to the more realistic and gritty prison drama than that of The Shawshank Redemption. It isn't deserving of it's forgotten film status, it has brilliant performances and it is consitently interesting. Dafoe should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance which was even more powerful than Robbins or Freeman in Shawshank. A powerful and realistic film about having to adapt to your surroundings.
Super Reviewer
Somewhat edgy, somewhat anticlimactic. Buscemi's directing is superb but his casting is hit & miss.
Earl Copen: Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. "On the Inside the Rules Are Brutal and the Stakes Are High" Steve Buscemi can definitely direct. Animal Factory was his follow up to the very good character driven alcoholic drama, Trees Lounge. Like his debut, this film has a very gritty, independent feel to it. Animal Factory is also very character driven as well, and the performances are good across the board, especially Willem Dafoe; but would you expect any different. Edward Furlong is well cast as the new fish in the prison. His character stands out as a small, young, and inexperienced inmate, that is thrown into a prison with ruthless criminals. He is taken under the wing of a institutionalized convict named Earl. Earl shows him the ropes and helps him out of some situations that he wouldn't have been able to get himself out of. The great thing about Animal Factory is how it makes you like the criminals without inserting any doubt of their innocence or guilt. We like Earl because of how he helps Ron, despite the fact that he is a ruthless and drug addicted criminal. Animal Factory doesn't go out of its way to insert any added drama. It feels very held back, when lesser films may have chosen to insert dumb little subplots to make the viewer feel more at home. This is one of those movies you appreciate even more when you look at some of the other efforts from the genre. Where those movies go wrong, this one doesn't. It doesn't simplify or intensify any part of the plot in order to get reactions from the audience. This may put off some viewers, but I really respect movies that are try and succeed at doing just that. This is just a realistic portrayal of prison life, shot in a real prison, with real inmates. It can't get much more realistic than that. It isn't a Shawshank Redemption caliber film, but it is a damn good one. Entertaining and powerful, without being melodramatic or overblown.
Directed by Steve Buscemi, Animal Factory is a tough prison drama following young convict Edward Furlong as he is taught the ropes of life behind bars by institutionalized inmate Willem Dafoe. Its lack of either melodrama or sensationalism is admirable, and solid writing and good performances for the most part make this a worthy and interesting window onto the ins and outs of prison existence. Willem Dafoe and Danny Trejo are completely believable as the two hard bitten convicts who take Furlong under their wing. The message is that imprisonment may just mean that otherwise good kids who have made a mistake will be transformed into career criminals if they are surrounded by men who will do nothing but take advantage of them or teach them nothing but the "tricks of the trade". Unfortunately the weak link in the performance chain is Furlong himself, who doesn't really capture the transformation of character to get the point across. I also felt the ending was a little bit of anti-climax, but as a whole it's one of the better prison films I've seen and well worth a look for its more realistic approach .
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