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Starred Up

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Starred Up

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Summary

Prison drama starring Jack O'Connell, Rupert Friend and Ben Mendelsohn. Violent young offender Eric Love is so out of control that he is transferred from the youth facility where he is being held to an adult prison. There he must not only deal with brutal treatment from both inmates and guards but also come to terms with a shocking revelation.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Damon Wise

A new British star is born in this brutal but rewarding drama, with Jack O'Connell as a violent young offender transferred to an adult prison. There he must defend himself not just from other inmates but overzealous and corrupt wardens, too. Presented as a harrowing immersive experience, the film starts with O'Connell's Eric being inducted into jail, a dehumanising and humiliating process that is only a curtain-raiser to the everyday hell that is life on the wing. Scorning the best efforts of well-meaning volunteer counsellor Oliver (Rupert Friend), Eric stubbornly resists any attempt to rehabilitate him. However, a glimmer of hope appears in the unlikely form of Neville (Ben Mendelsohn), an older con with a fatherly air. That's because Neville is Eric's father - but will his form of tough love be Eric's salvation? It's a question this moving but unsentimental film pursues to its stunning climax, and though the depiction of prison justice sometimes recalls an overcooked version of Hogarth's A Rake's Progress, O'Connell commands the screen as the troubled yet somehow sympathetic antihero.

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7.3/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameEric LoveJack O'Connell (2)Neville LoveBen MendelsohnOliver BaumerRupert FriendDeputy Governor HayesSam SpruellHassanAnthony WelshTyroneDavid AjalaDennis SpencerPeter FerdinandoRyanAshley ChinGovernor CardewSian BreckinOfficer SelfTommy McDonnell

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Crew

rolenameDirectorDavid Mackenzie

Details

Theatrical distributor

20th Century Fox

Released on

2014-03-21

Languages

English

Guidance

Violence, swearing, nudity.

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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