Shot Caller

Criminals are a very big problem in society. No matter if they are robbers, sexual offenders, murderers, there are a lot of people who should not be walking the streets of our neighborhoods. I have personally never been a victim of any crime ( except for having my car windows smashed by some idiots ), but i know people who have. And in most cases, the criminals have not been convicted correctly. Here in Sweden, you can get a way with a lot of criminal acts, with smaller convictions. How about murder, and you get perhaps 5 - 8 years ? If you look at other countries, you can tell that murder is a very serious crime. And we all know that America give criminals much harder convictions. If you do a very serious crime, you need to be locked up. That is my view on criminals. If you are a pedophile, you should be tortured, and killed. This is also something i feel, because pedophiles does not deserve to live. Does this sound mean ? Perhaps, but my view is, if you molest a child, you don´t have any rights. If we are talking about other types of crimes, like stealing, i might see that they may not need hard convictions. I seriously doubt that criminal gangs will ever go away, because we live in a world where money talks. And we have seen this so many times, when gangsters or drug dealers, will do anything to make more money, even if they destroy lives. There are of course plenty of films, that will take on the different sides of criminals, but i will mention one of the greatest classics of all time. The 1983 film Scarface with Al Pacino ( actually a remake of a much older film ), is without a doubt one of the best films made, with a view on criminals and their lifestyle. Al Pacino as Tony Montana, is one of those performances i seriously doubt anyone could have done better than him. Another really good film, is Martin Scorseses remake of Cape Fear from 1991, with a brilliant Robert De Niro in the lead role. This is a film you have to see, it is so damn good. There are of course some really good films i could mention, that you also have to see, how about Martin Scorseses masterpiece Godfellas ? In more recent years, there are still some really good films coming out, taking on the world of criminals, perhaps some of you saw Leonardo Di Caprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street ? Another really good Martin Scorsese film you have to see. I came across a smaller film, called Shot Caller on VOD. Not knowing much about it, i decided to give this film a chance, since the cast looked interesting. Is this a criminal film that actually have something to say, or is this a film that no one needs to see ?

Jakob ( Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ) and his wife Kate ( Lake Bell ) are out for dinner with friends one night. Jakob is intoxicated, but decides to drive everyone home anyway. As he misses a red light, his car is struck by another car, where his friend Tom ( Max Greenfield ) is killed in the accident. Jakob is convicted, and forced to serve time in prison. His ordinary family life is no longer a part of his life, and the only thing he can focus on now, is how to survive in prison. The ordinary family man, is about to become a completely different person, where violence is a part of his every day survival. If he ever comes out, can he face a different world, or will he forever be stuck in his past ?

I have to be completely honest, i did not have any expectations of this film. And after watching Shot Caller, i can tell you that i am shocked. This is a much better film than i ever expected. A really solid prison drama, criminal drama, with acting much better than the average criminal film. The story does not bring anything fresh, but it is such a well made film, considering the budget. The acting is most of all the biggest reason why this film is so good. Almost all the characters bring some really powerful performances, and this is something you don´t see very often in films, that usually goes straight to VOD releases. You could say that this film does handle different subjects, within the world of criminals, but also the world of how prison works. How does a man handle his life, after killing one of his friends, and trying to survive in a world with no easy way out ? Lead actor Nikolaj  Coster-Waldau ( probably most known from Game Of Thrones ), shows a completely different side from his acting abilities than before. I love seeing him as this brutal criminal, who will do anything to survive. I have to mention some other really good actors as well. Benjamin Bratt nails his performance as Sanhez, cleaning up the streets from criminals ( loved him in the 90´s classic Blood In Blood Out ). Lake Bell also do a strong performance as the wife Kate, of convicted Jacob ( Nikolaj Coster ). Keith Jardine as the brutal, insane convict Ripper, is the perfect choice in a role like this. He really looks insane, and capture this with facial expressions, the brutal dialogue and body language. Omari Hardwick as parole officer Kutcher, is also one of the great casting choices for this film. You get a sense that Kutcher is a man, with a lot of baggage in his heart, trying to make sure criminals get their lives together. Director Ric Roman Waugh have directed another prison film from the past, called Felon. It was actually not bad, and one of the films where actor Val Kilmer managed to act better than in most of his smaller budget films. With Shot Caller, director Ric Roman Waugh have stepped everything up, on a much higher quality level. I personally think this is his best film so far as an director, and he deserves respect for his hard work on making this film so good. This is not a classic in any way, but without a doubt one of the biggest surprises of 2017. Shot Caller is a hard punching criminal drama, that you need to see. Life can change much faster than you think.

Rating: DDDD