Directed by:
S. Craig ZahlerScreenplay:
S. Craig ZahlerCinematography:
Benji BakshiCast:
Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Geno Segers, Dion Mucciacito, Fred Melamed, Rob Morgan, Tom Guiry, Marc Blucas, Dan Amboyer, Pooja Kumar (more)Plots(1)
When former boxer (Vince Vaughn) loses his job and is faced with the breakdown of his marriage, he decides to take a job as a drug courier to turn his fortunes around and provide a comfortable life for his wife Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter). Just as his situation begins to improve, a savage gunfight lands Bradley in jail where he has to make a series of impossible, chilling decisions to protect those he holds dear. Backed into a corner, Bradley now finds himself forced to commit ever more ferocious acts of violence across a vicious prison battleground on the path to the most dangerous confinement of all - Cell Block 99. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (16)
A bit better compared to the directors debut. The uncompromising violence is now not an end in itself, but serves well in the compelling story of the anti-avenger played by Vince Vaughn, the protector of a family for whom the role is a solid fling, thankfully in a positive sense. As a prison drama, it's probably not entirely realistic, but as a bizarre probe into the world of violence, unspoken emotions and anger, it is very impressive. Lots of long shots full of despair and grief interspersed with moments of unreal carnage where broken arms and crushed skulls are the order of the day. Zahler delivers something that you don’t see often in the film world, but it's also far from being for everyone. Similarly innovative in the prison genre as the recent Shot Caller, only much slower and rougher.
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The story of Lamps and Brawl in Block 99 or How recognition becomes wonder. It doesn’t matter that it's a "low-brow", almost abstractly violent film in which one guy beats a whole bunch of enemies to smithereens. Brawl in Block 99 is a unique, unpredictable and brutal alternative to the bloated grindhouse genre, where the protagonist is much closer to the common man and the style imitates his development, first with austerity and minimalism, then with the use of surreal environments and detailed violence, which becomes the only possible way out; and culminating in an emotional climax that will blow you away. A superb Vaughn and a brilliant Zahler, who was born for this brawl. I have a feeling that when future generations of viewers debate cult films from the early part of this century, this unprecedented carnage will be at the top of the rankings.
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The content of the film looks so bland, uninteresting, videotape-like... but the name of the director and screenwriter practically guarantees that it won't be a bland, uninteresting, videotape spectacle. And it's not. It's a powerful, dark, and very brutal story about a man determined to take justice into his own shackled hands, and Vince Vaughn is absolutely brilliant in the lead role, largely because he's not just a muscular brawler, but also a good actor, BiCB99 impressed me so much. I had no problem understanding Vaughn's character, his motivations were clear and I really liked how he doesn't hesitate but takes action immediately, doing absolutely horrible things that made me have to look away more than once, but he does them because he doesn't have time to think of anything else and probably doesn't enjoy it much either. I would never have guessed the film was over two hours long.
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Arty grind-house that crushes skulls with its slow pace and human cruiser Vince Vaughn. Extremely precisely constructed tension and the director's brilliantly managed jump from a realistic introduction to a consistently B-movie finale in the environment of a cellar hell for invited psychopaths. Feat. Great cameos for frog eyes Udo Kier and the verbal frost of Frank Melamed. This is a portrait of a world that knows no mercy, with razor contours. Bradley Thomas is the hardest and coldest fucking bastard on the suffering market. North of OK, south of cancer. In my ideal world, people like S. Craig Zahler would win directing awards at big festivals. Because, for God's sake, this is an INNOVATIVE kick in the nuts, a director’s masterclass, whilst also being a genre film that had me invested since the first second.
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A huge surprise for me personally. The director S. Craig Zahler has already proven to me with the movie Bone Tomahawk this year that he has some potential, but I really had no idea that Vince Vaughn would convince me after his bad performance in True Detective. A very decent revenge film, which takes place in numerous locations, but even though we see the prison most of the time, you can’t say it is a prison drama. On the contrary. Imagine a simple PC game with a clear target in the beginning and you go through the first, second, third, fourth level… to finally get to the final boss. This film is that simple. Simple, but harsh, uncompromising and mainly the quality is really good. You will realize that in the fighting scenes. And you will also realize that Vince has a gift which he has never shown in all of his comedies so far. Why? That’s a good question. Now I hope that he will have a chance to film better and more interesting films than those he’s done so far.
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