source: Convicts

Convicts

One of the best films I've ever seen. Robert Duvall's performance was excellent and outstanding. He did a wonderful job of making a character really come to life. His character was so convincing, it made me almost think I were in the theater watching it live, I give it 5 stars.

Why? To continue. If there is a reason to like this flick it is the fact that you may turn it off. Do not think that I am knocking the members of the cast because I am not. Horton Foote has done some great things but whatever prompted him to lend his effort to this boring mishmash is a mystery. It's impossible for me to say anything good about this train wreck except that I presume the actors got paid for their efforts. If you like to listen to people curse this is for you. If you like people to wander about the fields shouting nonsense do not miss this one. If you like people who are mentally disturbed don't miss this one. Watching paint dry would be greater interest than this waste of time.

Robert Duvall is a direct descendent of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, according the IMDb.com movie database. After seeing this film, you may think Duvall's appearance is reincarnation at it's best. One of my most favorite films. I wish the composer, Peter Rodgers Melnick had a CD or there was a soundtrack available. Wonderful scenery and music and "all too-true-to-life," especially for those of us that live in, or have moved to, the South. This is a "real moment in time." Life moves on, slowly, but "strangers we do not remain."

Holy crap. This was the worst film I have seen in a long time. All the performances are fine, but there is no plot. Really! No plot! A bunch of clowns talk about this and that and that's your film. Ug... Robert Duvall's character is senile and keeps asking the same people the same qestions over and over. This earns him the same responses over and over. I am pretty sure this film got upto a six because people think they should like it. Good performances with famous and well regarded actors, but the actual complete work is a steamy turd. Well, maybe that's a bit deceptive since steam rising from a fresh pile sounds a little like something happening and in this film NOTHING HAPPENS! Sack

In today's world of digital fabrication, there is no computer than can replace the actor and writer. Alas, this type of "character driven" film is far too rare these days. Duvall's performance as well as James Earl Jones are faithful to their audience's high expectations. I wonder if this movie was made for TV? It has a "close-up" personal quality to the narrative. It is an understatement to say that the performances are all Outstanding. The only thing that keeps it from being a cinema Masterpiece is the lack of a great Cinematographer, but pretty pictures are not everything. How can talent the likes of Jones and Duvall continue to produce such fine work in an age where actors pose for the digitizing?

Like many stage adaptations, this film is a collection of set pieces without a tight overarching narrative. Not only is it adapted from the stage, but from the middle of a three-act play, which serves to remove some of the context; the viewer is just plopped into the middle of this one. I thought the performances were good overall, but the production was somewhat lacking. Perhaps the streaming version I saw was a bad transfer, but the cinematography was nothing to write home about, the contrast was way too high in many of the daylight scenes, and the colors looked as if the film was shot on old, faded film stock. A bit of a strange soundtrack too, but I liked it and I thought it was fitting. I would recommend it if you like Foote, Faulkner, or Duvall.

"Convicts" is a very unpleasant film with some good actors trying their best. But the subject matter is so awful, I found myself wanting it all to just end. The summary listed at the top of the IMDB page for the story is wrong. It says it occurs during the Depression, though it was really set around 1902....and the Depression lasted from late 1929 to about 1940. The story is set on a chain gang prison in the rural South. The man running the place, Soll (Robert Duvall) is out of his mind...with some sort of advanced dementia or Alzheimer's. There isn't a lot of plot....just Soll ranting and asking the same questions again and again and confabulating things. It's sad and unpleasant...though it could be worse since you really don't like or care about the man. So, if this sounds fun to you, by all means watch it. I found it unpleasant and unenjoyable. Some reviewers seemed to enjoy it....though I have a hard time understanding why.

Not a finely crafted film by any measure as the editing and directing were intrusive and clumsy, but Robert Duvall gives one of his totally unique and unforgettable performances as an old and very crusty Southern farmer riddled with dementia and poor health. His one day mental decline into death is one of the most fascinating performances I have ever seen in film. If you really love superior acting talent and skill don't miss it, as it is a rare master class to be sure. Also see it for the well shown and very authentic love/hate, paternal interrelationship between Southern whites and blacks in the Jim Crow era. And, if you like Duvall in this one, see him in another nearly unknown film role just as good or better and one of my all time faves.... a retired Cuban gentilehombre in Wrestling Ernest Hemingway. Treat yourself. Bigtime.