Prison Song

Prison Song was a film that I unintentionally passed up since it was on BET all of the time, instead I waited until the DVD came out to watch. When I did I realized that this is a very powerful film about a young man who gets caught in the system the same way his parents did - only it's a bum conviction that sends the kid to jail for life. For me, it's a very bothersome subject as I do have many friends who've been in and out of jail and as I'm aware of the fact that black people make up majority of the jail's population...

The movie even gets surprisingly graphic sometimes and really depressing as it's hard to not feel for the main character who was robbed of his dreams and his life by an unfair "justice" system. I relate to the main character as it's hard to emotionally detach yourself from a situation as messed up as the one he's in...

9/10 - solid and rewarding movie

Prison Song is a very good movie about broken dreams and injustices in the prsion system. The direction by Darnell Martin is better than her last film I Like It Like That. The screenplay by lead actor Q-Tip is also very good for first time out. Look for cameo's by Mary J. Blighe, Noreaga and Fta Joe.

I was told about this movie by a friend. He said it was one of the best movies he had seen. Unfortunately he told me the ending, but I won't spoil that for you...

"Prison Song" is a film about a boy brought up in group homes with a gift of art. He does beautiful drawings and is an excellent photographer. He is accepted to college and at first his gets a full scholarship but then something changes and it is taken away. This is one of the many times our principle character is let down. He gives up on his dream and gets angry. He ends up picking a fight with one of the boys from the group home and kills him. He ends up in jail 15 years to life.

The movie to me is a Musical Relief. Actors do break out into song or rap throughout the movie but fortunately this break from spoken word to words of rhythm and melody has a smooth transition. Transitions are so smooth that it seems almost real, like it was something anyone would do when reflecting.

Rapper, Q-tip, place the principle character and plays it well. Though he is quiet most of the time, the viewer will feel almost every emotion he does, even when his face is plain as a blank piece of paper. Through the film you grow to love the character and feel bad that things worked out the way they did. He is like many Black men, like many men period, talented but locked in jail.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a prison movie with a lot of heart in it. Characters are deep and the story line is rich.

The opening of this movie3 reminds me of a time in this country when the standard for porn was "socially redeeming value." They would have some doctor appear at the beginning or show some scrolling information to justify the movie to follow. In the same way, prison Song starts with a recap of the number of black in prison and the wasted youth. That is tragic, but no more tragic than this movie.

Yes, there is a story of a promising artist who ended up in prison for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and getting a bum lawyer in a system that just doesn't care about minorities. But, basically, this is a vehicle for the rapper Q-tip. Not being familiar with his work, I cannot comment on the music, just the boring story.

It is interesting to see a hood prison movie incorporate musical elements the way they did here. Unfortunately, this musical aspect is only seen in small instances, and as a consequence, it ends up not feeling so much of a hood drama musical all together. Now, I am not saying that the best thing the film has going is the musical take on the genre of films, but if it was not for the scenes where the actors rap, then this would be not much different than most of the other films that portray prison life.