Animal (2005)

Synopsis: Hmm…Ving Rhames beats the crap out of other men in prison, meets a guru, gets out of the big house, and tries to talk his son out of following in his footsteps. Wow – it’s basically South Central (or He Got Game) meets Undisputed. 

Blurb From the DVD Jacket: “His name…infamous. His reputation…. Ruthless. But when James ‘Animal’ Allen (Ving Rhames) is locked up in a maximum security prison, he meets a revolutionary (Jim Brown) who changes his life. Now a reformed man, James is released only to find his own son (Terrence Howard) has assumed a life of crime and violence.” 

What Did I Learn?: If you really want to whack a fellow prison inmate, don’t ask the crime boss for permission, first. Just push the guy down a flight of stairs and make it look like an accident. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You figure it must be a biography of this guy. 

Really?: 1) Funny how the young Darius looks absolutely nothing like either of his parents. 2) So wait – evidence emerges that James might have been wrongly convicted by crooked cops, yet he still has to spend a few more months in jail, and then see a parole officer after he’s released? 3) Imagine my surprise to discover that the “Willie Lynch” letter that’s quoted, and referenced over and over again in this film was most likely a forgery that was created long after the 18^th century had passed. As you may remember from my review of Nostradamus, I’m not crazy about movies that knowingly play fast and loose with historical facts.

Rating: Animal is a powerful, and surprisingly moving low-budget drama that features a good performance from Rhames, and an outstanding one from Howard. Unfortunately, Animal’s cinematography and overall production values are sub-par, the script doesn’t make sense in places (see: “Really?”), and the story itself isn’t terribly original (see: “Synopsis”). 5.5/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437072/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_56