Featured Audience Ratings

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Steve Buscemi proves here the extent of his talent, both as a screen presence and as a fine director. Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong share great chemistry and Danny Trejo brings in a few laughs to the more… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Steve Buscemi proves here the extent of his talent, both as a screen presence and as a fine director. Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong share great chemistry and Danny Trejo brings in a few laughs to the more realistic and gritty prison drama than that of The Shawshank Redemption. It isn't deserving of it's forgotten film status, it has brilliant performances and it is consitently interesting. Dafoe should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance which was even more powerful than Robbins or Freeman in Shawshank. A powerful and realistic film about having to adapt to your surroundings.

• Randy T

  
  Somewhat edgy, somewhat anticlimactic. Buscemi's directing is superb but his casting is hit & miss.

• Melvin W

  
  Earl Copen: Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.  "On the Inside the Rules Are Brutal and the Stakes Are High" Steve Buscemi can definitely direct. Animal Factory was his follow up to the very good character driven alcoholic drama, Trees Lounge. Like his debut,… More
  Earl Copen: Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.  "On the Inside the Rules Are Brutal and the Stakes Are High" Steve Buscemi can definitely direct. Animal Factory was his follow up to the very good character driven alcoholic drama, Trees Lounge. Like his debut, this film has a very gritty, independent feel to it. Animal Factory is also very character driven as well, and the performances are good across the board, especially Willem Dafoe; but would you expect any different. Edward Furlong is well cast as the new fish in the prison. His character stands out as a small, young, and inexperienced inmate, that is thrown into a prison with ruthless criminals. He is taken under the wing of a institutionalized convict named Earl. Earl shows him the ropes and helps him out of some situations that he wouldn't have been able to get himself out of. The great thing about Animal Factory is how it makes you like the criminals without inserting any doubt of their innocence or guilt. We like Earl because of how he helps Ron, despite the fact that he is a ruthless and drug addicted criminal.  Animal Factory doesn't go out of its way to insert any added drama. It feels very held back, when lesser films may have chosen to insert dumb little subplots to make the viewer feel more at home. This is one of those movies you appreciate even more when you look at some of the other efforts from the genre. Where those movies go wrong, this one doesn't. It doesn't simplify or intensify any part of the plot in order to get reactions from the audience. This may put off some viewers, but I really respect movies that are try and succeed at doing just that. This is just a realistic portrayal of prison life, shot in a real prison, with real inmates. It can't get much more realistic than that. It isn't a Shawshank Redemption caliber film, but it is a damn good one. Entertaining and powerful, without being melodramatic or overblown.

• xGary X

  
  Directed by Steve Buscemi, Animal Factory is a tough prison drama following young convict Edward Furlong as he is taught the ropes of life behind bars by institutionalized inmate Willem Dafoe. Its lack of either melodrama or sensationalism is admirable, and solid writing and good… More
  Directed by Steve Buscemi, Animal Factory is a tough prison drama following young convict Edward Furlong as he is taught the ropes of life behind bars by institutionalized inmate Willem Dafoe. Its lack of either melodrama or sensationalism is admirable, and solid writing and good performances for the most part make this a worthy and interesting window onto the ins and outs of prison existence. Willem Dafoe and Danny Trejo are completely believable as the two hard bitten convicts who take Furlong under their wing. The message is that imprisonment may just mean that otherwise good kids who have made a mistake will be transformed into career criminals if they are surrounded by men who will do nothing but take advantage of them or teach them nothing but the "tricks of the trade". Unfortunately the weak link in the performance chain is Furlong himself, who doesn't really capture the transformation of character to get the point across. I also felt the ending was a little bit of anti-climax, but as a whole it's one of the better prison films I've seen and well worth a look for its more realistic approach .

• Anthony L

  
  Steve Buscemi isn't just a pretty face ;o) He?s a brilliant director! Great cast, great film!

• Curtis L

  
  Nothing new here. Entertaining, but not special. Prison sucks, join gangs or die, and escape at the end. Clean cut.

• Arash X

  
  Not bad But it's a typical prison movie & has nothing special

• Todd S

  
  Animal Factory is the second film directed by Boardwalk Empire Star, Steve Buscemi. The story is about what happens to a young guy who is convicted of a serious crime and sentenced to Federal prison. We've all seen Oz and other shows that take you inside, but this is different.… More
  Animal Factory is the second film directed by Boardwalk Empire Star, Steve Buscemi. The story is about what happens to a young guy who is convicted of a serious crime and sentenced to Federal prison. We've all seen Oz and other shows that take you inside, but this is different. In Animal Factory, you see prison from a totally new perspective, through the eyes of someone who is basically still a child. You see that even if you can figure out how to survive, you still witness untold horrors. Edward Furlong is very underrated and great as always. Willem Dafoe is also very good in what is an unusual role for him. The movie also has some great cameos, including Mickey Rourke as a drag queen claiming to have a vagina. It's clever, well written, and isn't what you expect from a prison movie.

• Daniel D

  
  I will never understand why this film got so much critical acclaim. Yes Dafoes performance was absolutely stunning everyone else was very rubbish especially furlong. I felt zero emotion from him whatsoever his character was annoying. Another major problem is that they make this sound… More
  I will never understand why this film got so much critical acclaim. Yes Dafoes performance was absolutely stunning everyone else was very rubbish especially furlong. I felt zero emotion from him whatsoever his character was annoying. Another major problem is that they make this sound like a very corrupt and Bad prison but yet they didn't show it. Yes there were scenes of violence and a scene of attempted rape but they didn't get in detail enough to make you feel it. All that Dafoes performance offered was to point out how bad the other performances were. It was plain and boring and I can't think of more than one thing I liked about. This movie does not get my recommendation.

• Alex F

  
  Quite regular.

• Matthew A

  
  I found this film pretty boring. It mostly shows what life in prisons is like. If you want to see a good film like that, I'd say Shawshank Redemption is a way better option.

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