Starred Up

(2nd viewing) Echoes of A Prophet and Hunger abound, yet short of its thematic grandeur and artistic sensibility, respectively. However, Mackenzie is lord and master of his surroundings, painting the claustrophobic maze as a merciless environment, in which self-preservation is all consuming. And Jack O'Connell, what a remarkable, flawless performance from him. Remember that name.

Starred Up is one of the biggest surprises of 2014. I assumed this was just going to be another low budget, run of the mill prison drama wanting to rip off 'Scum'. However I was aware that young British actor Jack O'Connell has a bright future ahead of him so I decided to give this a watch. And he is simply incredible. Both him & Ben Mendelsohn give unbelievably bold and physical performances. Starred Up is definitely one of the most brutal and scene wincing prison dramas I can recall.

Decent prison drama. Now go watch 'R'.

Excellent performances all-round. Gritty, tense, claustrophobic and brutal. Impressive direction and good story.

Violent, gritty, intense. It doesn't try to tell any elaborate story, it's just brimming with testosterone, as it should.

I thought the characters and acting were excellent... but there was very little coherent story and the movie ended just as it was starting to progress. Most of the movie was a bit dull and I didn't feel like it completed a journey. Very European.

This didn't do much for me. It's a slice of prison life, but it doesn't really add much to the genre. There's a lot of violence and swearing, but that's about it. It also doesn't help that the main character and pretty much every other character are horrible people. Jack O'Connell does give a good performance though, and is probably the only real reason to see this, in my opinion.

A father-son bonding prison movie, how much more charming can you get? This is an excellent movie. That's not much of a critique, but I was in awe watching this. The characters, from the major to the minor, have great depth and no one plays a lazily written subordinate role. There are 2 main characters, but no one is acting like it's those 2's show. The dialogue is great too. People sound like actual people in it. This movie goes in many directions emotionally, but in the end, it's heartwarming.

Gritty English prison drama. This has got great reviews. One of the top rated films of 2014. But nobody saw it. I can see why (nobody saw it). It's not very good. 'Oz' the TV series has pretty much ruined prison movies. It was too good. The 2 hour film format doesn't lend itself too well to the genre. Because when a bloke gets bashed or dies... You don't care.

"You fucking suck the cock of cunt, you fucking assholes!"

What many prison films gloss over is that prisons are full of explosive, dangerous people. There are no noble lifers or Andy Dufresnes here, just a population of angry, violent men. This is an excellent recipe for incendiary drama, and this film delivers plenty while still being concerned with the idea of rehabilitation and penance. There's a fascinating father-son story at play here as well, and Jack O'Connell is a ball of unpredictable primal energy.

The worst movie I have seen in a long time....I didn't understand a word they were saying and I didn't understand the rest either.... Horrible... 12/100.

A testosterone-filled and exciting prison drama. Although it has it similarities to previous movies in the same setting it's still refreshing with it's intriguing characters and intense violence. The movie progresses nicely but can get repetitive in it's portrayal of the daily life. O'Connell with an impressive performance and credits to Welsh for what he achieves in such a small role.

A unique take on the genre that's more of a character study than a prison drama. Excellent performances throughout by the entire cast. Brutal without being too excessive. A little light on plot overall, though it is well scripted and the conclusion is satisfying. Jack O'Connell has a bright future in acting.

A brutally uncompromising day-in-the-life look at how one young offender fares when he's "starred up" to an adult prison. It's harsh but so compelling; it never offers easy answers, painting prison life in a sea of greys, where simple solutions simply aren't to be found. The cast are absolutely up to the challenging task at hand, with Jack O'Connell's lead performance utterly impeccable, and Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend doing great support work. Excellent.

Sets its universe immediately and is hyper focused on the habitudinal machinations of prison life to the degree of A Man Escaped if only less nuanced. There's something special about a guy racing into his cell at full speed and emotionlessly stripping and greasing himself up to deal with a coming onslaught. I originally queued this up thinking it was a documentary about MartinTeller's Groundhog Day review on this site.

Lots about this film is very good, notably the acting of the leads and much of the brutality of prison life. The anger management class in particular was right on the button. But, and it's a big one, all of this is pretty much thrown out of the window at the end in the service of an ultimately unconvincing plot. The damaged father-son relationship turning into "I want to be a good dad just don't know how" was nowhere near fractured and disinterested enough to match the first half of the story

Fantastic story that feels real. Father-son bond - is it responsibility or guilt?

the message it's trying to convey is nice and all and has many good points but the story is a little all-over-the-place. it feels like something missing and doesn't give us a chance to know the lead character deeply. i think this kind of story cannot be told in 1 hour and 46 mins. could've been much better.

adeta bir egzersiz gibi, mevzuyu kaşıkla yedirmediği gibi özel bir açıdan da bakmıyor. ama ne kadar açık olsa da cezaevleri üzerinden erk tartışmasını boğmayan, yormayan bir şekilde ve sertliğini mümkün mertebe herhangi bir sebep için yumuşatmadan aktarıyor. başarılı oyunculuk performansları da cabası.

A handful of great performances and a raw look into prison life offer an interesting, if not particularly rewarding, watch.

86.50

Intense and (I think?) realistic. I just loved listening to how the British prisoners talked... I learned a whole new vocabulary!

No, this is not about starting a new Tech company. It's about a young man in prison that also happens to be the same prison his father is staying in. Starred up is British slang for a young offender being transferred from juvenile prison to the adult prison earlier than normal. Jack O'Connell did a fine job acting, so did Ben Mendelsohn but that's where my love of this movie stopped. The DVD I watched this on had no option for subtitles and so with the accents of the actors...

if you not yelling out 'BEN MENDELSOOOOOOOOHN!' near the end you can fokoff mate

Very dark but pretty good

First half a palimpsest of scum, bronson et al., the second a silly melodrama. Worth a look though for the therapist that the writer based on himself and the atmosphere of violence, menace, confusion and helplessness it achieves.

One of the most brutal, violent and unpleasant films I can remember. O'Connell seems well-cast and Ben Mendelsohn is usually pretty great, so I was expecting high drama, but any hope of emotion is wiped out by the constant stabbings, beatings, hangings, slashings, and other physical punishment the characters like to practise on each other. It's intense stuff but doesn't carry much meaning. I'll file under "avoid in future". Watch "Un prophete" instead - fewer subtitles needed!

A grim "like-father-like-son" tale that, while is a compelling watch from start to finish, truly shines during the therapy scenes which crackle with tension like a fried Mars bar.

its quality control is nearly as volatile as the lead, particularly towards the end, but this is essential viewing for those moments when suddenly it felt like i was watching THE WIRE or something. it's much more thorny than most, let's say, though it's still got a ways to go.

A very difficult watch at times but well worth it.Grim,gritty & brutal with glimmers of humanity shining through. Guilty of overdoing the melodrama and slightly stretching believability with the denouement but that does not detract from this being Britain's best prison drama since Scum. Great performances from O'Connell and Mendelsohn.

Despite the brutality and setting the performances are so strong and real you feel for the characters.

Despite being in "English" much of the dialog was unintelligible British lingo. A prison drama about a damaged, hard headed but tough young man dealing with the hierarchy of veteran prison inmates as well as incompetent and corrupt prison management. Performances were very good except for the sometimes poor elocution. Jack O'Connell was mostly impressive. Many good tense scenes make it enjoyable to watch, but the sometimes incoherent and unfinished story was ultimately unsatisfying.

"Bronson" re-imagined as a sketchy father/son melodrama. I wished both of them dead. If you want to see good writing in prison dramas go to Alan Clarke. This is shit.

Excellent.

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Significantly better than the average prison drama, specifically in terms of cinematography & acting, but in the end that's all it is: a prison drama.

When I first heard of it, I thought it'd be a throwaway movie, but I was surprised. It's bolstered by a wonderful but not overstated performance by Jack O'Connell. It doesn't hit the highs of something like Hunger or R, where there were scene after scene of brilliance (especially in Hunger), and I didn't leave it with a feeling of awe but there aren't any real flaws here. Believable criminals, an honest look at jail and rehabilitation. It's just a more-than-solid prison drama.

Fantastic performances. Completely gripping, great film.

Really good. Intense and with great performances.

the perverse combo of a intense, violent prison flick and a male weepy. being an american, though, i felt i missed out on 30% of the dialogue.

With an impressive array of performances, I wish there was something more than a string of brutalities and utterances of "fuck" variations.

great.

The best prison drama I have seen in a long time. Performances, script, overall tone, topped off by a supremely satisfying ending.

A riveting father-son story, carried by powerhouses O'Connell and Mendelsohn. The camera impressively takes full advantage of the labyrinthine prison setting.