Murder in the First (1995)

Really Surprised!

Excellent adaptation.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

"Murder in the First" commences to the year 1935 as a down-on-his- luck young man named Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) desperately steals $5 from a post office. His criminal act harshly leads him to be sentenced to five years in prison. The worst part is, Mr. Young is only 18 years old. This opening scene begins the superficial story of Henri Young and his time in Alcatraz. Prison life has not been the life for Young as he and other inmates make a great effort to escape only to be caught red-handed. Young gets sent to the "hole" where he remains there for three years. Left under supervision by the guards and one very mean warden named Milton Glenn (Gary Oldman) who hated Young the first time he set eyes on him, he is physically tortured and incapacitated while remaining in the "hole". There are days or even weeks when no human contact comes his ways while he's in the hole. Three years later, Henri is released from the hole, but a complete shell of his former self. So much so that as an act of revenge, Young kills the brown-nose inmate who tattled on him when he was making his escape. Now Young finds himself in a much deeper offence as he is now convicted of first degree murder. His appointed attorney James Stamphill (Christian Slater) pays Young a visit to Alcatraz. At first glance, he appears to look like a malnourished, decrepit elderly individual when really, he's only just a couple years older than Stamphill. The harsh and physical punishment he's endured during his incarceration has him now unable to walk upright, his legs and back are crippled and his speech is very slurred and his mind is almost lost. Almost as though he has dementia, he now has the mental capacity of a child. The only thing he can remember were happy times were baseball and Babe Ruth. Stamphill, who's a rookie lawyer finds himself in a precarious situation as finds it very difficult to communicate with someone like Henri.Stamphill finding the only way to open up to Henri is by talking to him about baseball. Through many visits, Henri progressively opens up to Stamphill which lead to Stamphill going over his head. Leaving him with no real hope, Stamphill persuades Henri to plead innocent and to overrule the trial and instead place the penal system and Alcatraz on trial. Stamphill then blames Alcatraz for turning Henri into the insane person he has become.In one of the only humorous scenes, Stamphill beings in a hooker posed as one of his assistants. This was a ploy to offer something to Henri due to never being able to enjoy the moment because of his long prison sentence. But this effort and the baseball discussions between Henri and Stamphill, the bonding between both men continued until Henri's death. In an excellent trial scene, Stramphill successfully proves to the judicial system that Henri was left in the unmerciful hands of Warden Milton Glenn and completely lays blame to the penal system which eventually leads to the potential closing of Alcatraz. Henri must return to Alcatraz until the paperwork leading to his release has been done. In a memorable scene we see Henri getting on a boat begging Stamphill not to send him back. He is now emancipated, but can't understand why he must wait for this paperwork to be completed in order to get of Alcatraz. Henri was never discharged from Alcatraz and remained there until his death. Even though the story is loosely based on real characters, the performances were absolutely phenomenal, especially from the three principals being Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman. For the past three decades, the ladies have often had the hearts melting for the attractive Kevin Bacon. But in this movie, they can see just how riveting he is in a heart-breaking but highly respected performance he delivers here. His manners and his characteristics were truly realistic. Slater was the perfect casting choice to play the part of the green, inexperienced lawyer thrown into a case he never thought he'd never thought possible. His fight against the penal system was handled with care and never felt forced or rushed. Gary Oldman has been quite versatile with his roles in the past comes through as a tough, unmerciful warden.Even though the story is inspired by real events and characters, but in reality it is still a work of fiction. However, the situations look and feel real. The execution of the story and the characters really draws you in and you really root the whole time through to Henri and hope that he is able to be released before it is too late. On a positive note, it was just wonderful that the evil, cruel atmosphere that was Alcatraz was brought down in defeat.

I saw this film not long after its DVD release, in the days that we all used to travel down to our local DVD store and rent our movies over-night. On this day I had little idea of what I was renting, just another Alcatraz movie I thought. What a wonderful surprise to find this gem of a story based on actual events. Beautifully performed by it's cast and directed with an emotional heart that lived with me long after the movies first viewing. If I had a wishlist of prison films to see before I die this would be right up there, in the same class as The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Bird-man of Alcatraz. Wonderful film so rich in acting talent that I think they should have all won Oscars, please watch it and enjoy it and it will say with you for years.

It has always been baffling to me why this excellent film is hardly recognized! As others have so correctly remarked, the acting by Kevin Bacon and Christian Slater was top notch! And, the story is played out to perfection, along with being so, so inspiring. Almost all of the scenes in the court room also enhance those qualities. And, of course, Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman, that is, an excellent actor no matter what role he plays.A number of our friends have actually never heard of this movie. But, when one of them subsequently watched it, she remarked how good a movie it is.This film, along with "Awakenings", both need to be given so much more notoriety. I can watch either of them numerous times, and never be bored.

This is a great movie that, for some reason, no one has seen. I recently bought it because I am a big fan of Kevin Bacon, and I was completely amazed by his performance. The fact that he wasn't even nominated for an academy award shows you what a joke they are. All the actors are great, especially Bacon and Gary Oldman. The story is pretty good, and the movie is never boring, but the highlight of the film is Bacon's haunting portrayal of a man forced into solitary for three years. He manages to be both creepy and touching, which is amazing. There is some violence in the movie, so if you are not a fan of that, you might not want to watch. Other than that, however, I give a strong recommendation to fans of prison and courtroom movies, as this film contains some compelling elements of both. Overall - 8/10