Brutal Coming-of-Rage Prison Drama ‘Starred Up’

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Opening this weekend at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque after a week on VOD is “Starred Up,” a bloody-knuckles British prison drama that was also a favorite at the most recent Chicago Critics Film Festival. This is an at-times beastly movie that follows in the line of previous character-driven jail films like “Chopper” (starring Eric Bana), or Tom Hardy’s raging breakout movie “Bronson”. While this movie may not have the narrative muscle of these references, this odyssey into a hidden world does feature two actors well on their way to becoming global obsessions, Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn.

O’Connell plays Eric Love, a raging teenager dumped into an adult prison to carry out a drug-related sentence. After asserting his power to his fellow inmates with an act of violence (and nearly killing someone albeit unintentionally), he makes a connection with his father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) who’s in the middle of serving out a much longer term. While Eric remains a hothead ready to clash with authority, Neville tries to guide Eric in a productive direction, his last attempt at fatherhood, while protecting him from the chain reaction of violence Eric has started. At the same time, Eric undergoes a form of anger management with other inmates as orchestrated by non-convict Oliver Beamer (Rupert Friend). All of this is overseen by members of administration who themselves perpetuate the violent mores of the prison.

Jack O’Connell in ‘‘Starred Up’
Photo credit: Tribeca Film

In “Starred Up”, O’Connell’s performance provides an intensity that matches that of his character’s penchant for violence, creating a restless beast of a lost young man who has been fighting against those close to him for his whole life. With that type of character contained in a prison, he only simmers more, fitting into an explosive environment where violence is a common surprise. In only one film, O’Connell displays a grand sense of emotional range, without a greedy step even in the script’s more overdramatic moments. In this performance, one can experience fury as it overflows, and also when it becomes heartbreakingly depleted.

O’Connell has been seen in recognizable titles before, like “300: Rise of an Empire” or the original version of the TV series “Skins.” In one sense, “Starred Up” is a great place to discover the actor’s talents, especially since he’ll probably be in our faces more when the December-set survival film “Unbroken” directed by Angelina Jolie hopes to make a big stake on award season.

Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn in ‘Starred Up’
Photo credit: Tribeca Film

The rest of the film’s acting is solid across the board, especially from Mendelsohn, a supporting actor (“The Place Beyond the Pines,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” and “Animal Kingdom”) who consistently tackles his limited screen-time with a lead role’s captivating force. An issue with “Starred Up”, however, can be found in the story that this well-cast lot is brought through, with this screenplay from first-time writer/ex-prison therapist Jonathan Asser packing wallops of brutality, but not necessarily that of emotionality. The relationship between Eric and his father, the emotionally inward journey of Eric, and even the concept of Oliver’s unusual anger management group, are too underdeveloped to fulfill dramatic ambitions. But sometimes the intent with these dramatic plot directions is enough, especially when “Starred Up” is angled as the last attempt to save a moldable human being, should he ever get a chance to return to the real world.

Aside from its performances and subtitle-ready thick accents muttering oodles of prison slang, “Starred Up” stands out for its bleak presentation of life within a prison’s walls. The rules of this prison may be different than those we have in the United States, but the sense of community in this environment is nonetheless vivid as a presentation of universal captivity. Mackenzie’s camera work presents this viscerally as it follows behind prisoners as they walk, or rises with them as they trudge up the stairs. With no scene in “Starred Up” taking place outside the prison grounds, only bleak, diffused sunlight provides proof of a world that awaits the prison’s clientele and employees, if they’re ever able to find a proper release.

By NICK ALLEN Editor & Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com nick@hollywoodchicago.com