Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Writer:  S. Craig Zahler

Composers: Jeff Herriott, S. Craig Zahler

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas, Dion Mucciacito, Geno Segers, Victor Almanzar, Tom Guiry, Willie C. Carpenter, Mustafa Shakir, Fred Melamed

More info: IMDb

Plot: A former boxer-turned-drug runner lands in a prison battleground after a deal gets deadly.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

OK, so the movie is two hours and twelve minutes long.  It starts off as one of those perfect storms of bad days for Bradley (Vaughn).  He's a tough guy but he has incredible will power and he's able to keep himself calm in the most fucked up situations.  He's not a violent man, per se, but he can dish out the violence at a moment's notice when he needs to.  This film is the textbook definition of liesurely paced.  It's slooooowwww.  Exactly halfway into the picture the plot thickens in a most unexpected way.  I realize that I paid for the whole seat but now I'm only using the edge.  Hahahahahaha.  But seriously, it's the kind of moment when you straighten yourself up and pay more attention.  Now there are periodic moments of violence and fucked up shit going on but the pacing never really picks up that much so it still feels slow.  I thought I knew where this was going but Zahler made sure I didn't and I love him for it.  It's unpredictable in a way that almost always comes from a fresh, new voice in filmmaking.  I really dig the film.  Don't let anyone spoil it for you.  It's the kind of movie that stuck with me for a couple of days and I began liking it more and more.  I think the next time I see it I'll have to juice up my score.  Fans of genre films should dig this but it's not some easily digestible piece of exploitation cinema.  It's roots are there but this is something smarter, classier and more challenging to watch and I'm better for it.  This is Zahler's second film.  His first is BONE TOMAHAWK (2015).  It's been on my watch list since it was released and now I feel ashamed for not having watched it yet.  I'm going to fix that very soon.  His third film could be out this year.  He's working with Vaughn, Carpenter, Johnson and Kier again and it has one of the coolest titles ever...DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE.  What a fucking amazing title.  If that weren't enough, it's also starring Mel Gibson (hopefully in full on hardcore mode) and Michael Jai White.