or, “Ha Ha Got You With the Sex & Violence, Again”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.
5 out of 5
Filmmaker & author S. Craig Zahler’s “Brawl in Cell Block 99” is a prison-fighting thriller, with an audacious literary-esque understatement. I’ll demonstrate using Lindsay Lohan…
In 2013, at her then-nadir, Lohan & disgraced porn performer James Deen headlined Paul Schrader’s social drama “The Canyons”. Schrader is the legendary screenwriter of Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” – but a type-A director, exemplified by Stephen Rodrick’s New York Times article on Canyons’ production.
One provocative point in Rodrick’s piece was distributors’ worries over Canyons’ slow, unmarketable first act. Directorial colleague & editing precisionist Steven Soderbergh offered to cut an alternate version himself, to what Schrader responded, “You know what [he’d] do if another director offered to cut his film?” And flipped the bird. “That’s what Soderbergh would do.”
[cont’d]
I can attest The Canyons’ opening scene in the bar is as languorous as the whole first thirty of 2024’s “Kraven”: indeed, both are different 1-star films for vastly different braindead audiences. But there’s a reason so many other movies start propulsively only to flashback “6 Months Earlier”: a prologue’s forward momentum is often to trick viewers into sticking around for the exposition. That, or a glimmer of Lindsay’s naked flesh.
By contrast, Brawl’s slow start is a masterclass on subtlety. Characters traditionally ripe for sensationalism – like drug dealers living in mansions & cheating spouses – are shown going about their wicked business nonchalantly as I’m sure 90% of those transactions actually are. A domestic dispute & police interrogation evolve via open dialogue. It isn’t what genre viewers will be expecting.
It’s nice to be surprised sometimes, and Zahler has a twofer with actor Vince Vaughn. Known primarily for his comedy career, Vaughn has successfully carved out an infrequent niche playing against-type, like in 2001’s “Domestic Disturbance” & season two of HBO’s “True Detective” (Zachary Levi, take note). Here, Zahler & cinematographic collaborator Benji Bakshi keep the focus on the 6’ 5” Vaughn & his Bradley, letting the complex roller-coaster the sullen – though repentant – ex-con rides speak majorly through stifled silences.
Most will give Brawl a chance for its promises of cathartic violence, its prison proceduralism, and the gonzo descent of the plot’s final hour. But it triumphs most by quietly tricking viewers into acquiescing in its deliberate vision and sympathetic protagonist – even when, thematically, Brawl in Cell Block 99 is good ol’ nihilistic, machismo fantasy.
//wd 1.13.2026
As of publication, Brawl in Cell Block 99 is available to watch for free in Western Canada on Tubi (unsponsored).
Poster sourced from impawards.com. Screenshot from [FILMGRAB].
theory of a daskeman 