[yasr_overall_rating]
A newly released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
“Shot Caller” is not for the faint of heart. I’m not just talking about prison violence, but how being behind bars can slowly transform a good man who made an honest mistake, into a vicious, crude savage. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Jacob, a successful businessman who has a beautiful wife, Kate (Lake Bell) and young son, Josh. While out celebrating with some friends one night, after all of them have had a few drinks, on the way home, Jacob is momentarily distracted, runs a red light and causes a fatal collision. As a result, he accidentally kills one of his best friends sitting in the back seat of his car. He is arrested and his attorney makes a plea bargain with the prosecutor where he will serve less than two years in prison. While Kate is willing to fight this, Jacob agrees that it is the best course of action and that by taking it to court, he could receive a harsher sentence.
Only after the plea bargain does he discover that he will be serving his time in a maximum security prison, alongside other men who have been found guilty of rape, murder, and other acts of brutality. On his first day in the yard, he is pushed over by another inmate but instead of just taking it and walking away, he pounds him into the ground. One of the gangs watching are impressed and they take him under their wing but in exchange for their protection from other gangs, he has to run errands for them, anything and everything from hiding drugs in his ass, to cutting other inmates. Sometime later, after he has been with them for a while, they inform him that there is going to be a riot in the courtyard and that he needs to watch his back. As soon as the riot breaks out, he kills a would-be attacker who was close to murdering one of his friends and because it is all caught on security camera, an extra five years are added to his sentence.
As the years go by, he informs Kate that he wants a divorce and asks her to not let Josh visit him. Gradually, the good man he once was begins to dissipate, as prison life takes a hold of him and he must commit heinous acts in order to survive. Over time, he is respected by the other inmates and prison guards and before he is released on parole, the one inmate who runs the entire prison, a man known as the Beast (Holt McCallany), gives Jacob a job to do once he is out. At first, Jacob hesitates, knowing that if he is caught doing anything illegal he will be sent straight back to prison but when his family is threatened, he has no choice but to cooperate. As he prepares to make a deal for some stolen machine guns, he discovers that one of his trusted men, one who served with him on the inside, is actually a police informer. He pretends like he doesn’t know, to keep up appearances but when he and his men arrive at the location, the police ambush them and everyone is arrested.
Back in prison, the police offer to let Jacob go free if he offers up the Beast and his cohorts with proof of their illegal activities but he refuses. When he is brought in to see the Beast, he is implicated as the mole but he manages to get the upper hand and breaks free of his cuffs. Now both men must fight to the death, and he who wins will become the prison’s new leader.
“Shot Caller” is ably directed by Ric Roman Waugh and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau gives an absolutely electrifying performance as the tortured Jacob. Watching him transition from a good man into a callous, ruthless convict, is both absorbing and heartbreaking. We are all capable of good and bad and watching him turn to the dark side, not out of want but out of necessity, makes you realize just how effortlessly the transformation could befall any one of us given his situation. Jon Bernthal is detestable as one of Jacob’s men and as the story progresses, we learn that although he is loathsome, the reason for some of his actions run much deeper than what appears to be on the surface. Overall, “Shot Caller” is a tough movie to sit through but if you can stick it out, the story and performances will stay with you long after the film has finished.
Available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD Tuesday, October 17th
