Review of Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) by Nicholas P — 28 Oct 2017

Vince Vaughn is an actor that has been really good in comedic roles in the past but, generally, I never thought very highly of him as an actor. That was until I saw Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Vaughn blew me away as this hulking slab of muscle and anger with a heart of gold, or at least silver anyway.

With the shaved head, the tattoos, a minimal effort to make him look Hollywood Hunky and the performance of a career by half way into this movie I had to remind myself I was watching Vince Vaughn, I stopped recognising him at all.

All I saw was his character and for me that's some of the highest praise you can give an actor. Now let's talk about his character, this is a grindhouse style action movie about punching and I went in expecting a lot of punching and there is a lot of punching but the first half of this movie is all set up.

Now often when I watch a movie specifically for the punching I'd start getting bored but within this violent, brooding grindhouse fare beats a very human heart. Vaughn's performance is so fantastic, his dry humour so on point and his character so well realised that I didn't mind all the set up, in fact I cherished every little character moment so when the threat appears and the punching starts there was such a weight behind, you knew exactly why the main character was doing the things he did and it gave every punch that much more impact.

The action itself is fantastic, just how action should be filmed, clear steady camera work, minimal cuts and wide takes that hide nothing. No shaky cam to hide the fact the actors can't fight, just sheer, impressive skill.

The fights, when they happen, are flipping awesome. Jennifer Carpenter is also in this film and while she's not in it too much she does kill it when she is and really helps sell the relationship between her and Vaughn.

A lot of the other characters can be slightly one note or cartoonish but they're never there for very long and I think that may also be a stylistic choice that did work. There is an air of cheapness but again, I do believe that's a stylistic choice that ultimately did work for the world and the characters I thought.

Finally this is a very funny movie in places, I was laughing out loud at the one liner that comes before the world's most anemic grenade and many of Vaughn's lines are immensely quotable and dryly funny.

Ultimately this film, Vaughn alone, made me laugh, wince, cry (yes, really) and despite being an over two hour long grind house action movie with a lot more character drama, quiet moments and long takes of Vince Vaughn just walking or taking off his shoes than actual punching (though when there is punching it is BRILLIANT too) I was captivated the whole way through and loved every frame.

Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a five star movie, I have in my heart no doubt about that. Watch this movie and pick the cream over the skimmed.