Stoic (2009)

The Age of Commercialism

Absolutely brilliant

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

It's very rare for me to watch a movie rated below 5 stars on IMDb. But I have only watched one of Uwe Boll's films; Rampage. Which I loved. So I thought I would give this one a shot, and I was extremely surprised. This movie triumphs movies I've watched with a 7 star rating. The movie has a way a putting you in with those cell mates on that night when a poker game goes awry, seriously awry. You see the struggle for power, and how far they will actually go to maintain their stature in the hierarchy. It's interesting to see the confessions play linearly to it, and how their story changes as the movie progresses. And I loved the acting, it was fantastic. So all I have to say, is if you wanna see a horrific and heart wrenching night in a prison cell, watch this film.

I am struggling to understand any of these positive reviews. First off, I have not seen any of 'Uwe Boll' other offerings so I am not judging the film by his previous work, solely on this pointlessly brutal, savage unrelenting 82 minutes of film. I can usually watch films no matter of their content, however I did need to fast forward at least half of Stoic. Stil, some of the images of the film still haunt me! I fast forwarded hoping (somewhat naively) for a happy ending. I could quite happily of lived my entire life without watching this film. I really am confused as to why people would merit this, chiefly due to the 'shock factor'. I would estimate that 95% of the people who have watched and enjoyed this film are on some sort of register, and if they have kids social services will most definitely be keeping a close eye on them. In short, if you watched and enjoyed this film, you're probably a pervert; a violent, weird, pervert.

After a game of poker takes a turn for the dark side, three inmates find themselves trying to cover up the brutal beating and torture of the fourth inmate in their cell. Stoic, starring Edward Furlong, Shaun Sipos, Sam Levinson, and Steffen Mennekes leads you through the horrible acts, using flashbacks and interview style Q&A with the inmates involved. Stoic is also based on the true story of an inmate from a German juvenile detention center, who was brutalized by fellow cellies.I had huge doubts going into this movie knowing that it was directed by Uwe Boll, Who's only movies I had been exposed to before this were video game related. The fact that I happen to be a big Edward Furlong fan caused me to give this flick a try. After all, If I was able to sit through the third crow film, I can survive anything. This movie takes every fear a man has about going into the prison system, and rolls it up into one nonstop ride of fear, and uneasiness. The worse case scenario of jail is unfolded in front of you in a very graphic and unforgiving manor. You can really feel the tension rise to higher and higher levels as things continue to spiral further out of control with each passing minute. It's very rare a movie ever makes me truly feel sorry for a victim, because I'm always able to tell myself it's just a movie, it's all in good fun. Stoic does a really impressive job at making you feel for the young man being tortured for no real reason at all.Now, the things that bothered me about this film, first of all, when in prison, guards check on cells on a pretty frequent time frame, it seemed like a lot of time passed in this movie with no guard in site, beyond when they got food. Of course, that can be overlooked, but there is one scene in the film which I won't spoil just for the sake that some of you may go watch this after reading this, but let's just say huge shenanigans called on the red button incident with no one double checking on the claim made.With that said I'm shocked, and kind of disturbed to say I enjoyed an Uwe boll movie, and not just because Edward furlong was involved. I was very impressed with the raw, and realistic nature of the film for the most part, and also its ability to make you feel something. I recommend you give it a watch, especially you Netflix users out there, as it is currently viewable via instaqueue.7/10 - Ritualistic The Liberal Dead http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

I won't go into discussing previous Boll Movies because it won't help talking about Stoic for its completely different at least from the trash I've seen by Boll. Stoic is a pretty straight movie about 4 guys in a prison cell and the dark automatics that group dynamics can take. The movie is pretty slow which makes sense because it follows all the little steps that lead to a giant disaster. It focuses on the 3 guys torturing their cell mates beginning with macho humiliation games that turn into a murder masked as a suicide. The visuals are gritty and the atmosphere is dark and kind of nihilistic, yet this movie is based on a true recent case in which the convicts were just around 20 years old. Stoic is no masterpiece, sure but its a movie that serves its purpose... the acting is believable, the inter-cut interview sequences with the depicted real events work, the atmosphere is cold and realistic in that the motivation by fear is pretty obvious for all involved. There are now winners here but luckily the picture painted is not black and white but a dark gray. I hate when cases like this one are put aside with the bare argument that the killers were "animals" or something like that because it almost never is simple like that. I like movies like Stoic for forcing the viewer to look at a side of humanity that is dormant in all of us until we are dropped into situations like the one depicted here and who knows if you or me wouldn't do things we can't think of now when fear messes up our rationality.I think the possibilities of group dynamics were depicted in a raw and realistic way... kind of reminded me of the bleak outcome in "Eden Lake". And in that it made me think after the credits rolled it sure was a good movie. I can understand if some people consider it too slow or too exploitative, yet I wouldn't say that myself. But a rating of 3 points with most reviews positive seems to finally prove that a lot of people really just hate Boll whatever he does. Up to now I saw no reason to argue for Boll but with this film I do since it is definitely far better than Bolls previous outputs.