Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a 2017 American action thriller film written, directed and scored by S. Craig Zahler. It stars Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas and Tom Guiry. It was screened out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. The film was released in theaters on October 6, 2017, and on digital HD and video on demand on October 13, 2017, by RLJE Films.
Video Brawl in Cell Block 99
Plot
Former boxer and drug mule Bradley Thomas (Vince Vaughn) is laid off from his job at an auto-repair shop. As he arrives home, he sees his wife, Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter), sitting in her car talking to someone on her cellphone. Bradley approaches her and sees a lovebite on her neck. Lauren confesses that she has been seeing somebody else. Bradley orders her inside the house before he violently dismantles her car with his bare hands. When calm, he enters the house to discuss with Lauren their failing relationship. Bradley decides to forgive Lauren and returns to work as a drug mule.
Eighteen months later, Bradley and a now pregnant Lauren have relocated to a larger, more expensive home. Bradley's boss, Gil (Marc Blucas), introduces him to Eleazar (Dion Mucciacito), a new business associate, and gives him a new task. Bradley is to sail off the coast with two of Eleazar's men to pick up a package of crystal meth. Bradley does not trust the larger of the two men, Roman (Geno Segers), but accepts the job when Gil offers him three months paternity leave. As they arrive at the pier, Bradley senses they are walking into a police trap and dumps his bag into the water. Bradley instructs the other two men to do the same, but they ignore his order and confront the police in a firefight, wounding three officers. Bradley intervenes by knocking out Roman in order to assist the police. The third drug trafficker dies in the shootout. Bradley is taken into custody and sentenced to seven years in a medium-security prison.
During the night, Lauren is kidnapped by men under orders of Eleazar. On the second day of his incarceration, Bradley is visited by the Placid Man (Udo Kier), who informs Bradley that he works for Eleazar. He tells Bradley that, unless Bradley assassinates an inmate named Christopher Bridge, located in Redleaf Correctional Facility, a separate maximum-security prison, the limbs of his unborn child will be surgically removed by a Korean abortionist and sent to him. Bradley reluctantly accepts.
Bradley picks a fight with multiple guards, until he is overpowered and transferred to Redleaf. There, he meets unforgiving Warden Tuggs (Don Johnson). Bradley is put into a horrible cell, where the toilet is clogged with feces. Eventually, he is able to go outside for yard time. When a fellow inmate informs him that Christopher Bridge is not located in this section of the prison but in another section known as cell block 99, Bradley fights some other inmates and consequently is thrown into cell block 99.
Warden Tuggs explains that cell block 99 is where he devises special punishments for society's most despised criminals. Bradley is forced to wear a belt that gives him electric shocks at a push of a button, as a punishment for the fight. His cell in block 99 is lined with broken glass and only contains a crude squat toilet hole. Bradley speaks to a man in an adjacent cell, who informs him that Christopher Bridge does not exist at all. During the night, a young guard named Wilson (Tom Guiry) escorts Bradley to another, larger cell in block 99, where Eleazar, Roman, and two other gangsters are located. The gang torture Bradley with the electric belt, and taunt him by threatening to call the abortionist. He is shocked so badly that he needs to be dragged back to the cell unconscious.
Bradley devises a plan and tears the lining out of his shoes: he places the rubber between his body and the belt to prevent the shocks. This enables him to ambush Wilson and another guard; resulting in him killing Wilson. Bradley locks the second guard inside his cell. Bradley confronts Eleazar, and brutally kills all three henchmen in hand-to-hand combat. During the brawl, Eleazar calls the Placid Man and instructs him to activate the abortionist. Bradley first tortures Eleazar by breaking his leg, then calls the Placid Man to negotiate for Lauren's freedom. It is agreed that the Placid Man will deliver Lauren to Gil's house. Bradley drags Eleazar into his own cell, across the broken glass, to await confirmation of Lauren's freedom. Warden Tuggs and his men arrive at block 99, but Bradley threatens to kill his two hostages. Bradley states he is waiting for a phone call, and promises that he will surrender peacefully, exactly one minute after the call ends.
The Placid Man and the abortionist follow Eleazar's instructions and drive Lauren unharmed to Gil's house. As they drive away, Gil retrieves a hidden assault rifle and kills the Placid Man. Lauren then takes the rifle and shoots the abortionist. Gil phones Bradley to inform him that his family is finally safe. Bradley speaks to Lauren for the last time, and shares a few words with their unborn child.
Bradley destroys the cell phone, then reminds Warden Tuggs that he still has 60 seconds of freedom remaining. Bradley shoves Eleazar's face into the squat hole and stomps several times on his neck, decapitating Eleazar and leaving the head at the bottom of the toilet. Warden Tuggs and his men finally enter the cell. Bradley gives one last look at Tuggs, before he shoots Bradley twice, once in the chest and once in the head. The screen cuts to black on the third gunshot and Bradley's body hitting the floor is heard.
Maps Brawl in Cell Block 99
Cast
- Vince Vaughn as Bradley Thomas, a retired boxer who returns to a life of crime only to be arrested and put in Redleaf Correctional Facility.
- Jennifer Carpenter as Lauren Thomas, Bradley's wife.
- Don Johnson as Warden Tuggs, the brutal warden of Redleaf.
- Udo Kier as The Placid Man, a mysterious man working for Eleazar who visits Bradley in jail.
- Marc Blucas as Gil, Bradley's boss.
- Mustafa Shakir as Andre
- Thomas Guiry as Wilson, a prison guard.
- Dion Mucciacito as Eleazar, a business associate of Gil who eventually comes to torment Bradley in prison.
- Geno Segers as Roman, Eleazar's partner.
- Willie C. Carpenter as Lefty
- Fred Melamed as Mr. Irving
- Clark Johnson as Detective Watkins
- Pooja Kumar as Denise Pawther
- Tobee Paik as The Abortionist
Production
Principal photography began on August 15, 2016, in New York City. On August 17, 2016, Jennifer Carpenter joined the cast of the film. Principal photography wrapped on October 17, 2016.
Release
The film premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2017. The film was released in theaters on October 6, 2017, and on digital HD and video on demand on October 13, 2017, by RLJE Films.
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brawl in Cell Block 99 rides a committed Vince Vaughn performance into the brutally violent -- and undeniably entertaining -- depths of prison-set grindhouse genre fare." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The film made year-end best of lists for Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Collider, JoBlo.com, The A.V. Club, and others. The picture was a New York Times Critics Pick and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, where it was added to the permanent collection.
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and praised Vaughn's performance, saying: "In the middle of all the wince-inducing, limb-bending, bone-crunching, face-exploding bloodshed, Vaughn turns in a legitimately great performance that ranks among the finest work he's ever done."
Accolades
References
External links
- Brawl in Cell Block 99 on IMDb
- Brawl in Cell Block 99 at Rotten Tomatoes
- Brawl in Cell Block 99 at Metacritic
Source of article : Wikipedia
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