Cellmates Film Review (2012)

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Cellmates (Viva Pictures) 1 hr. 26 mins. Starring: Tom Sizemore, Stacy Keach, Hector Jimenez, Kevin P. Farley, Olga Segura Directed by: Jesse Baget MPAA Rating: NR Genre: Comedy Critic’s Rating: *** 1/2 stars (out of 4 stars) There is a fine line between posing as a contemptible comedy that effectively works versus a contemptible comedy that grates on the nerves. Thankfully, the offbeat jailhouse buddy comedy Cellmates falls into the former category convincingly rather than the latter one. Relentlessly raw, observational and insanely witty in its subversive quirkiness, Cellmates (originally entitled “White Knight”) hits its mark as an off-kilter satirical laugher laced with Coen Brothers-esque vibrancy. Writer-director Jesse Baget (“Wrestlemaniac” aka “El Mascarado Massacre”) and co-writer Stefania Moscato deliver an unlikely clever and heart-warming story of an imprisoned racist rogue in Texan Ku Klux Klansman Leroy Lowe (a surprisingly riotous Tom Sizemore) and showcases his eventual redemptive vibes en route to the road to racial salvation. As an Arizonian-bred filmmaker, Baget is able to capture the underlying tension, outrageousness and nonsensical hysteria recently bombarding the national headlines concerning immigration issues, Hispanic-oriented causes, Spanish language barriers and other xenophobic preoccupation. If anything, Cellmates’ caustic campy humor is timely given the political jingoistic sentiment running amok. What could have been considered a clichéd and callous prison yarn about cartoonish caricatures under the shock value banner of racism is actually an inspired and wacky yet shrewd comical commentary on fear and ignorance. The pacing is energetic and the film is well-written and audaciously insightful. Baget’s direction is refreshingly bouncy and the performances are devilishly carefree. True, Cellmates does not bring a

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