25 to Life (2008)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Tony is released from jail and due to state laws if he gets as much as a parking ticket he'll be sent back to jail for at least 25 years . Tony hasn't got much on the outside world apart from his daughter who is looked after by his estranged wife and life on the outside leads to all types of temptation When you've seen one ghetto film you're in danger of seeing all of them . 25 TO LIFE doesn't bring anything new to the table and is a very low budget film released straight to DVD . That said for a film with all those production values of a cheap chick flick / disease of the week TVM I found myself enjoying it far more than I could possibly have expected . Perhaps because there is a lack of budget director Frank Nunez and lead actor Enrique Almeida who both wrote the screenplay concentrate on the very real dilemmas involving Tony and keep everything low key Some people may very well be disappointed by the lack of scope and action to the story . There's no expected shoot outs with rivals or cops , not a lot in the way of violence but Tony's ambitions of trying to find a job and stay on the straight and narrow did mean I could totally empathise with the guy and Tony is a likable character who isn't over developed . It's certainly not a film that will appeal to action fans and is a little too slow moving to appeal to die hard ghetto movie fans but for a very low budget film released straight to DVD is better written and acted than you'd expect

This movie tried desperately to convey the malaise of an ex-alcoholic/convict returning to a life that was no longer his. It begged to be taken seriously as it valiantly, defiantly reared its head and shook its fist at the prejudice and ill will expressed by a man who had suffered intolerable cruelties. His wrath compounded, yet silenced by a manipulative system unable to distinguish itself as friend from foe.FALE.Humanity allow what little merit a movie may have to guide our conscience as we mark it in a one-to-ten scale. Plot holes, acting, pacing... these are concepts absent from the creators minds as this monstrosity bleeds on. It wasn't until late in the evolution of man that the notion of zero widely infiltrated the collective. Zero is either something the creators of IMDb.com have yet to actualize or casually dismiss but, thanks this movie it may have found a reason. It was that bad.