Henri Young: "I was the weapon, but I ain't no killer."
When 17-year-old Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) robs a small grocery store of $5 so he and his little sister can eat, little does he know that the petty robbery was a federal crime because the store also served as a U.S. Post Office. With his sister sent ot an orphanage, Henri is sent off to serve his term at the federal prison in Leavenworth and is later transfered to Alcatraz.
Henri quickly becomes involved in an escape plot but is betrayed by a fellow prisoner. As punishement, Henri is sent to solitary confinement but instead of serving the standard 19 days, he spend three years alone in a dark, dank, tiny dungeon with no real human contact. The isolation drives Henri insane. Upon release from solitary, he attacks and kills the snitch by stabbing him repeatedly with a spoon.
Young attorney James Stamphill (Christian Slater) is assigned to defend Henri. While it's clear that Henri killed the betrayer, Stamphill's tactic is to convince the jury that the brutality Henri endured in solitary caused him to become a murderer.
Others in the cast include Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Kyra Sedgwick.
Kevin Bacon is, once again, brilliant.
Directed by Marc Rocco.
Run time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Rated R.
My personal rating: A-
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