Prime Time: Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017)

My brain works in mysterious, and usually successful, ways. Not for the benefit of anyone but myself, but it's really only myself that I care about when it comes to the movies. I don't mean that I am a completely selfish git, although at times I am, but I mean that I am the only one I want to spend time with, initially, when considering movies, and formulating my opinions on them. Well . . . unless my wife is beside me, and then we bounce ideas off one another. More importantly, my brain SEEMS to know when I am fully settled on my opinon, and also when I need more time, and perhaps another viewing, to really nail things down.

I first watched Brawl In Cell Block 99 some time ago, and I absolutely loved it. I was ready to rave about it, I was ready to give it a very high rating, and I was ready to tell everyone that Vince Vaughn had finally realised the potential that I'd seen in him in films like Clay Pigeons and, yes, the Psycho remake. But my brain did its thing, and kept me quiet for a while (about this film, I am rarely as quiet as anyone would like me to be).

Revisiting it very recently, I am first going to say that I would not have been unhappy to share my initial thoughts. It's a superb film, with writer-director S. Craig Zahler giving viewers some of the finest exploitation fare that we've had in some time. It may have the budget and star power separating it from true grimier and grittier films but it has the sensibility of any number of low-budget gems that show someone on a bloody and violent quest for revenge. It also does it all without the need to constantly wink at viewers and overtly reference all of those other movies (a la Tarantino, not that I dislike that approach from him).

Anybody waiting for a brief plot synopsis . . . that was basically it. That's all you need to know. This is a revenge film, and it's one that has a lot of broken bones and general trauma.

The cast includes Jennifer Carpenter, who does well with her relatively small amount of screentime, Don Johnson, who continues to enjoy his recent resurgence, Udo Kier, and Marc Blucas. Dion Mucciacito is a main baddie, but he's less important than all of the obstacles in between him and our "hero". And that "hero" is the standout. I stand by the praise I wanted to heap on Vince Vaughn when I first saw this. Having coasted along in comedy roles for a number of years now, it's almost a revelation to be reminded of how good Vaughn can be, especially in a role that doesn't let him settle into his usual, quick-talking, cocky persona. Vaughn is one scary beast of a man here, believable as someone with the strength and just enough smarts to be one of the most dangerous individuals you could end up tangling with.

Having heaped all of this praise on the film, is there anything it gets wrong? Yes. Not much, but enough to drag it down a bit. It's too long, for one thing, although it never felt to me as if it dragged. I just can't help thinking that this could have been whittled down to just under the two hour mark. It also peaks a bit too soon, because once viewers have been shown just how graphic and nasty things are going to get there's something a bit anti-climactic about the rest of the scenes that continue to heap on the extreme violence.

If you have the stomach for the content, and for giving Vaughn another chance, then Brawl In Cell Block 99 is HIGHLY recommended. I really liked Bone Tomahawk, also by Zahler, but I like this one just a bit more. I'm already looking forward to what he's giving us next.

8/10

Buy the disc here.
Americans can buy it here.