Animal Factory

Not romatised, not suger coated, not pretty, but human and humanizing in its depiction of life behind bars. Something to think about when you realize that the prison poplation of the US is over two million and growning. It begs the... Full review

Buscemis second movie as a director is a story about two inmates who have a father-son relationship. Casting Furlong as the youngster was a good choice, casting Dafoe as the gang leader was an even better choice. What troubled me about... Full review

The cast is top-notch, and Buscemi shows great skill with his actors, in particular, drawing a pair of surprisingly impressive performances from the very last two people you'd expect: Mickey Rourke and Tom Arnold, both of whom are almost unrecognisable. ... Full Review

The story in Animal Factory shares refrains with actress Rachel Ward's Australian prison short, The Big House , a film she wrote and directed last year about an intimate relationship between an older inmate (Tony Martin) and a young 'newbie' (Kick Gurry), both serving time and stuck in a cell together. ... Full Review

Buscemi also teases excellent supporting turns from Mickey Rourke as a transvestite(! Buscemi honours Bunkers tale by lensing with an assured, unfussy touch, paring down the technique to draw top-notch performances from Dafoe and Furlong. ... Full Review

The only lighthearted moments in "Animal Factory" are the ones in which somebody isn't being gang raped, assaulted in the yard, or stabbed in the showers. Fortunately for the frail, defenseless Decker, he is soon introduced to Earl Copen (the never-better Willem Dafoe), a well-connected lifer who surreptitiously runs the place by easily outthinking the indifferent/incompetent guards and prison officials. ... Full Review

ANIMAL FACTORY Rated:R For movie details, please click here . Actually, the unrequited love between Ron and Earl is Animal Factory's most memorable aspect, despite the fact the subject is barely discussed and nothing physical occurs between the two characters. ... Full Review

This is Buscemi's fourth film as director (TREES LOUNGE, ANIMAL FACTORY, LONESOME JIM), but my first one to actually watch. It's about journalist Pierre Peders (Busemi) interviewing a Paris Hilton type actress named Katya (Sienna Miller). ... Full Article

Sat on the shelf gathering dust since its UK debut at the 2001 London Film Festival, Steve Buscemi's directorial follow-up to the wonderful " Trees Lounge " is a prison movie with a difference . ... Full Article

If prison life is anything like how it's shown to be in 'Animal Factory', then what you really need to survive in there isn't a knife, but an exceptionally strong pair of pants. ... Full Article

Plot A young middle-class pot dealer is imprisoned in a violent, high security American jail and strikes up a friendship with an older, more experienced inmate. ... Full Article

Directed by Steve Buscemi, starring Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Danny Trejo, Seymour Cassel, Mickey Rourke, John Heard and Tom Arnold. Lifer Earl Copen (Dafoe) reckons there are two things you need to survive prison time. ... Full Article