Customer Reviews

Jailbait

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Lake Placid Film Festival, "Jailbait" is the story of Randy, just a few years out of high school, who makes the mistake of testing California's "three strikes" felony law (on two pot possession charges and one vandalism) and finds himself with a 25 year prison sentence. The film opens with his goodbye to his mother and arrival at the prison, where he is assigned a cell with an older "lifer", Jake, who befriends him at first, but later preys on Randy's fear and the intimacy they developed in order to manipulate him and get what he wants.

A powerful film which, on its surface, shows how our prison system fails young men like Randy, who become default playthings for the older, stronger inmates. It also illustrates, without discussion (beyond Jake's laughter when he learns why Randy is there), the stupidity of any law that mandates a lengthy sentence regardless of the circumstances. In the two lead roles, Michael Pitt (Randy) and Stephen Adly Guirgis (Jake) provide riveting performances that would have been rewarded if the subject matter was a bit less controversial. Rated R for language and discussion of sexual activity, although there is no sex or nudity in the film itself. The only DVD extra is the trailer and chapter stops.

I own this film and actor Michael Pitt really shines in this role. This film is an absolute rollarcoaster ride that takes place in one jail cell...and there's no way out!

In reading the reviews of others on this site, I am very surprised to see how well this movie was reviewed! I am firstly a big fan of the star actor in this film, Michael Pitt, so it is mainly for that reason that I found and bought this movie, and also it sounded like an interesting concept and movie in the first place- It has also been linked to some of my favorite more underground film-makers and was linked to a lot of other movies that I happen to love! That said, I guess I had high hopes for this movie and really WANTED to like it. I did not end up DISLIKING it, it was more a factor of disappointment than anything else. I felt like it ended rather abruptly, which was surprising to me and not what i would have expected, & was without conclusion, and most of all (WORST of all), without serving any sort of point or making any message clear. It's bad enough that the ENTIRE movie, save for a whopping 5 minutes here and there, was all shot in the exact same setting- a jail cell, and the whole movie consisted of little else than dialoge, which was limited to only two characters to begin with. So needless to say, it was VERY lacking in action or suspense, and ran very dry, as though there was no plot. The way it ended so suddenly was probably what annoyed me the most of all, though. I guess you could say that it was very realistic, in that life is not very entertaining in the everyday scheme of things, so I guess in that light, it was realistic and probably very much like that of ACTUAL conversation/a day in jail...But that's the ONLY thing, and I've always thought the point to watching a movie was to be entertained, if we wanted reality we would just not turn on the tv and just watch life unfold. Long story short, I watched this for the purpose of being entertained, and though the conversation was definitely intriguing at a few points, that's as good as it was going to get. A couple slaps here and there, a few violent outburts/tantrums, a whole lot of conversation- and nothing else!! So if you are a big fan of either of the actors, you might want to rent it, but I would definitely not waste any MONEY on it!!

This is an okay film, one of those movies that really plays out like a short-film that just happens to be full length. A two character indie play in a way. It just made me realize how lucky I am to not be trapped in a cell with a fat vile weirdo. This ought to deter kids from committing crimes, the idea of being trapped in a cell with a scum bag weirdo, who rapes and won't stop talking about his sickening weird sex memories. I'll show this to my teenagers if they are thinking about breaking the law. This is a horror film in some respects.

I was expecting a little more from this movie. The entire movie basically takes place in one cell and the storyline was a bit jumpy and it didn't build up enough that you could see a relationship building between the two which made you undertand. True, Michael Pitt is gorgeous enough to pass as a beautiful girl in the prisioners mind but it made me feel the two were stuck together and not together because they wanted each other.

It would have helped the movie if you saw some sexual interaction between the two, but that was missing also and if there was, they cut away.

Michael Pitt has done a number of gay-related movies, lets just hope the next is better!

Love michael pitt as an actor and this is great!

wonderful out look on how not to share too much with your cell mate.

This movie I fell for for 2 reasons...First,because I am a major Michael Pitt lover and secondly because Stephen Adly Guirgis is one hell of an actor. Guirgis gave a performance in this movie like nobody's business, it was inspeakably incredible and powerful. Has this actor done anything else because he really deserves to up there as one academy award winning actor!!! Michael Pitt is his meek adorable self as usual though he plays a convict in jail for writing obscene language on a man's car which gets him 25 years in the cell. The chemistry between their characters is really powerful because one is domineering while the other is all out submissive and gives in to the other character's demands and requests. But at the end I believe they begin to realize they need each other to get through their time in the joint. Great dialogue and great acting by Guirgis and Pitt. If you like joint flicks, I really think you're going to like this one.

This movie is as painful to watch, as it would be to actually spend years in jail. Really makes you feel like you are there. Was hoping for a nice shot of the boy at least but there's no nudity worth seeing.