Henri Young is a young prisoner incarcerated on the infamous island prison of Alcatraz. Convicted of only stealing five dollars Henri makes an attempt to escape from the prison and is caught in the process. His escapee comrade squeals to the authorities whilst Henri remains stoic, needless to say it doesn’t take the brains of an Archbishop to work out which one is put back on the wing and which one is put in solitary confinement.

For Henri solitary confinement would be enough of a punishment but instead of the maximum 19 days that any inmate should remain there he is forced to endure over three years of being cooped up in an airless, lightless cramped cell. Add to that the beatings and torture his endures at the hands of the warden Milton Glenn, it’s perhaps understandable that when Henri is finally released back into the mainstream prison his mental state is less than stable. At the first opportunity he has he takes revenge on the rat who squealed on his escape and ends up murdering him in the mess hall by stabbing his victim with a spoon.

James Stamphill is the young public defendant attorney who is given the unenviable task of defending Henri, a task that is made doubly hard by the fact the Henri is nearly 100% catatonic and won’t speak to people. With the authorities closing ranks on any wrongdoings in the penal system and a client who won’t take, how will Stamphill put together a legitimate case to defend Henri?

The film is really made via two very well executed factors. Firstly the settings are extremely effective, being both moving and disturbing. Alcatraz is portrayed as the bleak foreboding rock that it is and the solitary cells are scarily depicted in all their frightening glory. The contrast with the urbane and civilised courtroom could be stronger and yet the goings on in this place of justice are staked against Henri and the cruel regime that has made him the killer he is.

Secondly the performances of the leads are quite excellent. Christian Slater is on the surface perhaps too young to play Stamphill and give the lawyer the authority he needs and yet is over eager exuberance and assurity of his position lets him get away with it. Gary Oldman is quite subdued for him and yet this cold and calculating Warden Glenn is a chillingly bad character and very effective. Finally the main plaudits must go to Kevin Bacon who’s portrayal of the pathetic Henri is superb in the sorry state of this broken man and yet is strangely uplifting.

There’s one final scene when Henri re-entered Alcatraz seemingly only for the purpose to hurl one final insult at Warden Glenn whilst the other inmates applaud the bravery of their fellow prisoner which is probably unnecessary and diminishes the final gravitas of the ending but the rest of the film is well worth the watch.

A forceful and emotionally moving picture.
Review date: 2004-01-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

Terrific true story about the trial that brought down Alcatraz. It tells the tale of Henry Young (Kevin Bacon), whose parents had died leaving him alone to look after his younger sister, then later wrongly imprisoned for murder and sent to alcatraz. Where he is tortured by the prison warden Mr.Glenn (Gary Oldman).
When his escape plan fails, he isthrown down a steel flight of stairs, beaten, his ankles were slashed condemning him to walk with a hobbnle for the rest of his life and then placed in solitary confinement for three years. Then when he is taken out of solitary confinement he kills the man who grassed on him and his life is put on trial. Taking his case to court is Christian Slater's young attorney, who turns the trial into an indictment of a repellent institution.

There are some memorable performances with Kevin bacon stealing the show. He gives a convincing performance as the young convict and made me realise what a fine and under-rated actor he is. Gary Oldman was great as always and did his sinister bad guy routine very well. But I felt Christian Slater's performance was a bit wooden and he only just scraped by.

This film was moving made me really feel for Henry Young. The only possible flaws being Christian Slater and at times it was ever so slightly cheesy. But overall I would say this was a great film by Marc Rocco. Forcefull stuff

It captures the horror and fear and turns it into brilliance
Review date: 2001-05-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

The stars are brilliant, the script is touching, the speeches are truely inspiring. This film is pure class. Anybody with a heart cannot refuse this movie as it is unique, well told meaningfull,everything that a typical movie lacks.

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