On L List of Movie Reviews
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Lock Up (1989)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
1/04, 1/05, 7/08, 5/16, 2/22
7/08:
Lock Up is a memorable prison picture in Sylvester Stallone's oeuvre.
Tom Sizemore, in his first movie role, isn't bad as Dallas. Hampered by poor start, his character gets on a roll by
delivering great lines. He has a memorable death scene with Jordan Lund who plays the sadistic guard Manly.
My favorite scene is when Frank Leone was recovering in the infirmary after being stabbed in the back and had a conversation
with a Henry Rollins look-alike inmate in wheelchair. He seemed friendly and genuine, and then the next
second, he had plans to rape Leone's fiancé. Meanwhile, the showdown between Leone and Drumgoole is a can't-miss, and the
sight of Donald Sutherland's face as he begs for mercy is comical.
All in all, Lock Up is a shot of testosterone in the arm for all Stallone's fans.
5/16:
Lock Up is Stallone's Shawshank Redemption.
No matter how many times I've seen the movie, I don't agree with the nomination given to Donald Sutherland for Worst
Supporting Actor. He did fine, and I like his character. I realize now Tom Sizemore gave a very good performance as the
hyperactive, talkative Dallas. Or was he really hopped up on drugs? Either way, kudos to him for being memorable. Playing
Chink Weber the yard boss, Sonny Landham is great as always. He will always be well known as Billy in Predator.
There are a lot of great scenes which were shot on location at New Jersey's Rahway State Prison with real
inmates and guards. My favorite is when Frank Leone has a nice conversation with an inmate in wheelchair and it immediately
goes sour when he has plans to rape Leone's fiancé. The football scenes are not to be missed, either; they did it for real,
with no stunt doubles, resulting in serious injuries for Sylvester Stallone.
All in all, Lock Up is an underrated Stallone classic, and I never get tired of watching it over and over.
2/22:
One aspect I look for in a film is realism, and Lock Up oozes it aplenty.
Shot on location at East Jersey State Prison (formerly Rahway State Prison), the extras are real prisoners and guards,
providing the look. Of course, Sylvester Stallone is the man while Predator's Sonny Landham matches him intensity for
intensity. The most brutal scene is the football game. I can tell these people were duking it out for real. Stallone
almost broke his leg. Now, that's what I call realism.
To this day, I have no idea why Donald Sutherland was nominated for Worst Supporting Performance of the Year. What he did is
simply excellent. The warden is a sadist along with his guards. It's nice to see John Amos not be part of them who's just
doing his job. I've got to love his frameless glasses that's held back by a couple of strings to achieve the tough look.
Tom Sizemore makes his feature film debut, seeing his career to take off afterwards.
On the other hand, the story is great and entirely believable with terrific editing and many Stallone moments. In prison, you
have the decent guys versus the stone cold killers. Hence, rooting for Frank Leone and his buddies becomes easy. I became
invested into the film almost immediately.
All in all, I think of Lock Up as Shawshank Stallone.