Like his first directorial attempt - Tree's Lounge - Steve Buscemi's second full-length film as a director, Animal Factory, falls just short of leaving a long-lasting impression on the viewer. It's certainly a great improvement over Tree's Lounge as far as production is concerned, and all the right elements - directing, dialogue, acting, cinematography - are in place, but the characters and plot are just not interesting enough to make it unique and memorable. There are tons of prison dramas out there; Animal Factory just isn't news Still, for what it is, it's a great film and certainly worth your time. More realistic than most prison dramas tend to be, Animal Factory shows a picture of prison life that is much less shocking and brutal than we're used to see in this kind of film, and focuses more on the difficulties of actual day-to-day survival. The story focuses on young inmate Ron Decker (the very talented Edward Furlong, memorable as Edward Norton's younger brother in American History X) and tough guy Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe) and on the relationship forming between them. Nothing new, really, but with two excellent actors and some great, unpretentious directing we get a really lovely film. The rest of the excellent cast includes Chris Bauer, Danny Trejo, Tom Arnold, an unforgettable Mickey Rourke and Buscemi himself in a small part.
A very slow and intimate movie, Animal Factory is not much of a masterpiece but it shows a lot of potential and promise for Steve Buscemi as a director. If you're a fan, if you like Trees Lounge, or if you're fond of prison dramas, Animal Factory is well worth a watch.
A very slow and intimate movie, Animal Factory is not much of a masterpiece but it shows a lot of potential and promise for Steve Buscemi as a director. If you're a fan, if you like Trees Lounge, or if you're fond of prison dramas, Animal Factory is well worth a watch.