Slowblivion
First off, what time period is this set in? Various things point to the 50's (Daisy's car, the type of prison, the uniforms of inmates and guards and yes, the whole feel of the film) however, when you see modern EXIT signs, a witness who's hair is clearly straight out of '88, televisions with remotes (digital remotes at that) and a black female warden (wouldn't happen in the 50's) you have to question just when this is supposed to take place. Also, the judge and judgment bother me. 1, The judge says he hasn't seen in all his years (presumably many years since he's old) any crime so heinous. Daisy killed her mother (actually didn't but that doesn't change any outcome)
how is a single murder the most heinous thing he's seen? The other women in her pod have equal if not greater offenses and yet, Daisy, is put forth first to be executed. Also, if this is fairly modern, then the punishment of hanging is pretty far fetched. Given that only New Hampshire and Washington state still allow it, (Washington gives option of lethal injection) the southern accents by all the inmates and guards is highly suspicious. There are two stories that go one, Daisy and the witness
. The witness is driven mad by her guilt and kills herself as Daisy hangs in prison. Why? Why would someone who thought she saw and was willing to testify in court, under oath, that she did in fact see what she thought she did. Where did this guilt come in? Her story is intercut haphazardly and since the witnesses story doesn't ever follow up on itself it's easy to forget just what she was doing the last time she's on screen. We'll be in the prison for 30 minutes, then jump to her hitting a squirrel while driving
back to prison for 25 minutes, she buys a piece of meat at a market and faints. She goes to a doctor, then a psychiatrist (which we don't see and it would have been a huge help to understand WHY she feels what she's feeling instead of assuming we as the audience understands it and sympathizes, which I don't) . The character arcs are
odd. Daisy is a mild mannered and soft demeanor kind of girl. After her first attempted hanging she turns into a sassy know it all. This is explained through a conversation with black widow, but then after Daisy stages a small assault on the ONLY PRISON GUARD IN THE BLOCK (this was really distressing) she is sent to solitary. In solitary she reverts back to her soft and confused eyes. No sass, nothing. Then she's raped at the behest of the female guard and the female warden by several men in animal masks
why the females would subject her to that is beyond me. I don't pretend to understand the female psyche but
seems pretty poor. The film didn't gain anything from this rape as later she's just going through the motions as though nothing has happened. Of course, The prison guard (Amazon) has her own change of heart
sort of. She's abusive, disgusting, and manipulative
then AFTER THE RAPE she's kinder and more understanding. Why, who the hell knows
Issues such as the witness using the same gun to kill herself as Daisys mother did at the beginning is one of many prop and set issues. The prison is confusing (looks modern, then just old, then to decrepit in the various rooms) The yard is just a wall which actors are lined up too closely with offering no depth in the shots. (looks to have been shot inside a stage, not outside due to odd echoes in the audio) Overall, I don't know what I was supposed to take away from the film. That good people die? The system doesn't work? That prisoners are nice and friendly? That guards have a change of heart? That witnesses feel irrepressible guilt for telling what they saw?
I don't know. There's no feeling of satisfaction and there's no feeling of a central story. I've heard others call this powerful, gritty, eye opening..etc. How it can be viewed as anything but confusing, inaccurate, unbelievable, misguided, and drawn out is beyond me. On a positive, the acting wasn't THAT bad and even had a good performance from the woman playing Black Widow (mimi I think) . Cinematography wasn't spectacular but had some good Noir moments sprinkled throughout. for that and perhaps a concept that failed ambition, I have to say 2 of 10
sue
Stuck! is not a camp fest. Thank God. There are a zillion campy movies about women in prison. Camp is one of the easiest things in the world to produce. This movie is about character, mood, composition and craftsmanship. It is a visual poem. All the actresses are incredible and create 3 dimensional women in a genre known for 1 dimensional cut outs. Actually, Stuck! is not a part of the women in prison genre. It feels more like the hard boiled noir dramas of the 40s and 50s but with a European art cinema vibe. The metaphor of being Stuck! permeates every frame. I'm not a writer. I just know what I like. So many films to review. But I think this is one of those films that will be rediscovered down the road. Daisy is the innocent victim. She lands in jail. She shares death row with Dutch, a bisexual prostitute; Esther, a Bible-thumping zealot; MiMi, a black widow; and Princess, a broken little baby killer. A bitch of a prison guard called, Amazon, emotionally abuses the women. The neighbor lady who witnesses Daisy's "crime" slowly dissolves under the weight of her own guilt. The way this all plays out is incredible to watch: suspenseful, uplifting, terrifying, heartbreaking...and so much more. It is a movie about women and oppression. About justice and our propensity to disregard the truth in favor of what is easy. Stuck! will stick with you. I'm still reeling...
lewiskendell
"Are you talking back at me, tampon socket?"Awful, boring, awful, amateurish, awful, awful, and awful. That pretty much sums up Stuck!Daisy (played by some woman with a terrible fake southern accent, whose name I certainly didn't bother to look up) walks in on her seriously ill mother plotting to end her own life with a gun, and in an attempt to prevent the suicide, the mother is accidentally shot and killed. A neighbor sees the struggle through her window and misinterprets it, resulting in Daisy getting sent to jail with a sentence of death. I don't really remember what happened after that, probably because this movie is so terrible that it gave me brain damage. What's supposed to be a modern homage to the "women in prison" genre, ends up being a mawkish bore that fails to entertain on any level. Stuck! isn't campy fun, and it's not anywhere near the good side of awful. From the acting, writing, and directing, to the incredibly cheap looking digital video it was filmed with, this movie is just a failure. Even the titillation that practically is a genre requirement is completely missing, because quite frankly, most of these women make actual prison inmates look like Adriana Lima. Skip this. Please.