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Review #314 of 365
Movie Review of Let's Go To Prison (2006) [R] 84 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $4.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 21 November 2006
Time: 5:20 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Bob Odenkirk (The Pity Card)
Written by: Ben Garant (Herbie Fully Loaded), Thomas Lennon (Herbie Fully Loaded), and Michael Patrick Jann based on the book, You Are Going to Prison by Jim Hogshire
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Dax Shepard (Employee of the Month) • Will Arnett (RV) • Chi McBride (Annapolis) • David Koechner (Snakes on a Plane) • Dylan Baker ("The Book of Daniel") • Michael Shannon (World Trade Center)
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
With all due respect to the book upon which the screenplay was based as I have not read the book, and I don't judge them by the cover (see below), it might be a fine book, however the film…egads. Do people still say that? "Egads!" Well, it's the first word that came to mind upon my speedy exit from the theatre. Generally, I live by a philosophy that no matter how bad a movie might be, it still represents the talents of many people and so many things may have gone wrong in production that ruined the original artistry. Maybe there was a brilliant script at the outset, but masked and unnamed shadowy studio figures came in and messed it up. Maybe there were brilliant performances cut and now on the editing room floor that would have sent the film straight the final five. Maybe the director just learned from the producers that the budget had to be cut from $20 million to $20,000. None of these things would, then, be the fault of the artists involved in the making of a film. I try to give the artists the benefit of the doubt first because it is they that pour their hearts and souls into this profession of movie making which can be a fickle business. Which, I guess, is my nicest possible way of saying that for whatever reason, Let's Go to Prison, turned out to be just an awful, dreadful film. Usually, also, even when a film is simply horrendously bad, I can see where things might have gone better had X, Y, or Z been done differently. In this case, I cannot find those things. It all starts with the title. "Let's Go to Prison"? Huh? A parent or guardian gets up on Sunday morning and says to the family "Hey family, let's go to prison!" Huh? Who says things like that? "Let's go get in a train wreck!" So, just going on the title alone, the powers that be were setting this film up for utter disaster.
"Full of stereotypes and needless gross out jokes…how do films like this get made…"
Second, the plot doesn't sound like a particularly good or funny idea. A juvenile delinquent named John Lyshitski (Dax Shepard) keeps getting put back into prison by Judge Nelson Biederman III. When he's finally had enough, John decides he's going to get his revenge on the Judge. Unfortunately, by the time he gets old enough and mad enough to do something about it, the Judge up and dies on him. No matter, he's left an heir to his foundation, Nelson Biederman IV (Will Arnett). So, John decides to mess with the son and eventually helps put circumstances into motion that send Nelson IV to prison for holding up a pharmacy. This conviction lands him in prison for 3-5 years. Wanting to be there in prison to continue to make Nelson's life miserable, John gets himself thrown back into prison for possession of illegal narcotics. On the bus ride to prison, John warms up Nelson befriending him and saying they should be cellmates. Once in prison, John bribes a security guard to ensure he and Nelson are cellmates. Knowing the ins and outs of prison life, John begins to set Nelson up to endure pain, agony, and torture. He sets events in motion that end up getting Nelson marked for murder by the prison's most notorious gang leader, Lynard (Michael Shannon). He sells the rights to be Nelson's boyfriend to Barry (Chi McBride) for a couple of cartons of cigarettes. He basically does everything possible to make Nelson's prison life a living hell. But through it all, Nelson rises up above John's plans eventually standing by and watching Lynard kill himself with a syringe of boat cleaner believing it to be Nelson's last fix. This turns Nelson into a cult hero in the prison and new leader of the white supremacists gang. Things culminate with a staged fight to the death between cellmates, John and Nelson. It is difficult to understand how anyone could see this plot as a winner.
The acting is the one bright spot in the film. Will Arnett and Dax Shepard do their jobs well as did Chi McBride. Unfortunately, these characters are so poorly developed, it was difficult for them to come off as three-dimensional. There's little to help explain why these men are the way they are, nor is empathy developed to encourage the audience to care very much what happens to any of them. Full of stereotypes and needless gross out jokes the acting cannot overcome all else that is wrong with this film. In the end, Let's Go to Prison, disappointingly ends up in the "how do films like this get made in the first place?" category.
The acting is the one bright spot in the film. Will Arnett and Dax Shepard do their jobs well as did Chi McBride. Unfortunately, these characters are so poorly developed, it was difficult for them to come off as three-dimensional. There's little to help explain why these men are the way they are, nor is empathy developed to encourage the audience to care very much what happens to any of them. Full of stereotypes and needless gross out jokes the acting cannot overcome all else that is wrong with this film. In the end, Let's Go to Prison, disappointingly ends up in the "how do films like this get made in the first place?" category.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Let's Go to Prison (2006)
Cast Members
Dax Shepard
• Will Arnett• Chi McBrideDavid Koechner
• Dylan Baker• Michael ShannonDirector
Bob Odenkirk
Co-Writers
Ben Garant
• Thomas LennonNovelist
Jim Hogshire
| Book | CD Soundtrack | DVD |
| VHS |
Let's Go to Prison (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Egad. With all due respect to the book upon which the screenplay was based Let's Go to Prison the film, turned out to be just an awful, dreadful film. Juvenile delinquent, John Lyshitski (Dax Shepard) and frequent prison 'guest' gets his revenge on the sentencing judge by setting events in motion to put his son, Nelson Biederman IV (Will Arnett) in prison along side of him where he can make his life miserable. While Shepard and Arnett deliver decent performances for these stereotyped characters, needless gross out jokes and a barely funny script lead one to wonder how this film ever got made.
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