Jim Mullen Tate (TheFearmakers) The centerpiece of this, the ultimate ensemble prison drama, isn't the child molester aka "Short Eyes" (Bruce Davison) put into a cell-block of tough convicts who, after finding out his crime, turn the premises into their own courtroom, but a young handsome Puerto Rican nicknamed Cupcakes, played by the late Tito Goya, who has to deal with - or take advice from - these same toughies before, during and after the molester's story becomes center stage. While not the main character, Goya's youthful protagonist provides the core of the boiling pot involving a bevy of eclectic, dangerous cons from a tough Italian (Joseph Carberry), a stubborn black muslim (Don Blakey), a sexually-driven Puerto Rican (Shawn Elliott), two laidback but badass African Americans (Nathan George, Ken Steward), and the film's true star: a good-hearted Rican "idealist," played brilliantly by Luis Perez, who feels called-upon to protect Goya and the molester both. Based on the play by Miguel Pinero, also appearing as an antagonistic prisoner (if the film has a villain, he's it), all one can say is: you have to see it to believe it. And a soulful "singalong" with Curtis Mayfield and Freddie Fenders adds soul to the brash proceedings. (cultfilmfreaks.com)

moonspinner55 Miguel Piñero adapted his own play (and co-stars as Go-Go) in this no-nonsense examination of life behind bars in a racially-heated men's jail. The prisoners segregate themselves by race, insulting each other with slurs which quickly lead to thrown punches, and yet this racial pride is really the most we learn about any of them. Bruce Davison stirs things up as the new inmate, one of only three white men in the cell-block, who admits to having a fixation on little girls; he can't remember if he molested a recent accuser or not, but quickly becomes the target of the other inmates' rage. Davison's monologues about a lifelong predilection for jailbait don't quite contain the honest ring of truth, yet are still terribly difficult to listen to, as is most of the dialogue. The scenario is commendably not exploitative--and is blessedly free of being sexually or violently explicit--though the threat of rape hangs in the air, possibly meant as a scare tactic for younger viewers. Still, Piñero's narrative is loftier than your average cautionary tale, and the film--although far from incisive--is a hard-hitting portrait of jailhouse life. ** from ****

Woodyanders Clark Davis, a shy, soft-spoken, wholesome-looking middle class white male, is sent to prison for the heinous, unspeakable crime of child molestation. Clark's very presence causes the assorted racial conflicts, barely suppressed homosexual longings, and painfully nagging doubts about one's self-worth amongst the inmates to come to an explosive full boil on a heretofore calm multi-ethnic cellblock. The inmates band together to enforce their own vicious, complicated moral code upon the much pushed around Davis.Tough, gritty and frightfully plausible, "Short Eyes" rates highly as one of the best, most accurate and brutally realistic prison films ever made. Bruce Davison gives an astonishing, almost excruciatingly delicate, unexpectedly sympathetic and even moving performance as the pathetic, guilt-ridden pedophile; the scene where Clark confesses to having molested several little girls since he was fifteen years old is quite chilling and haunting; it's perhaps the most blistering and gut-wrenching moment in a generally searing and hard-hitting film. The outstanding ensemble cast all turn in exceptional work: Jose Perez as the compassionate Juan, who makes a valiant, humane attempt at protecting and understanding Clark; Joe Carburry as the volatile, irascible Longshoe, who initially befriends Clark and becomes his chief tormentor after discovering he's a "short eyes" (prison slang for child molester); former real-life convict Tito Goya as Cupcakes, a cute Hispanic inmate who secretly likes all the sexual advances he receives from most guys on his block; Mark Margolis as a hostile guard, Don Blakely as El Raheem, an overbearing, overzealous advocate of black pride and Islamic religion; and Shawn Elliot as Paco, a crude, hulking gay felon who only knows how to show affection through aggression (the scene where Paco tries to seduce Cupcakes in the shower is very touching). Keep your eyes peeled for Luis Guzman in his film debut as an extra inmate in a few crowd scenes.Richard Young's sharp, tautly wound direction, working from Miguel Pinero's unsparingly rough, profane, keenly observant and wholly credible script (Pinero, a onetime criminal who did five years in Sing Sing for armed robbery, based said script on his acclaimed Broadway play and acts in the film as GoGo, a coarse, hectoring homosexual inmate who frequently taunts Cupcakes), draws the grungy, desolate, claustrophobic and uncomfortable behind bars milieu in scarily lucid terms, smartly depicting the gloomy penitentiary as the filthy, festering, often ignored rusty bottom of America's melting pot culture (the film was shot on location in a notorious Manhatten Men's House of Detention called the Tombs). Country and western singer (and erstwhile jailbird) Freddy Fender has a remarkable bit as Johnny, a venerable felon who sings "Break It Down," a poignant song about the harshness and constricting nature of prison life; it's a wondrous, show-stopping moment. Pungent, shuddery score by Curtis Mayfield, who cameos as a disgusted elderly felon. By no means an easy film to watch (and at times a tad flat and stagy), "Short Eyes" nonetheless still qualifies as a truly startling and unnerving powerhouse of a movie.

zetes Maybe the best prison film ever made because its origin is people who were actually in prison, most notably its main author, Miguel Piñero. The film deals with the interrelationship between the prisoners of a cell block. That's what most of the film is, the observation of these men and their culture. The plot of the film is about a new arrival (Bruce Davison) who has been arrested as a suspect on a child molestation charge. He's never been in prison, and he's very afraid, which, of course, he should be. Short Eyes doesn't make any easy choices at all, which makes for a particularly uncomfortable movie to watch. But it also makes it one of the gutsiest and most important films ever made, and it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's one of only two movies that I've ever watched twice right in a row. Well, the second time was with commentary by the director (and another man, whose participation in the film I don't exactly know), because I wanted to know exactly how this film came about, and to confirm my guess that there was some kind of inside track to prison life behind the scenes. There was far more than I could have guessed; the commentary also ranks as one of the best I've ever listened to. A masterpiece.