K-11 (2013)

Pretty Good

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Such an odd film. Man wakes up in jail, and finds himself in a strange prison cell; it appears to be a ward for gay and transgendered people. Goran Visnjic is "Saxx", and he tries to navigate survival; everyone he meets is either a friend or foe. From the start, we're shown one main corrupt officer that we can tell is going to be trouble. And we're also shown "Mousey" (Kate del Castillo), who runs the joint. The main plot here is that Saxx says he doesn't belong here, and he keeps making phone calls for help. About halfway through, we find out what he's at least accused of, but we have yet to find out if he actually did it or not. Of course, the most famous face here is "Jay" from Clerks... Jason Mewes. (yes, they are making Clerks III, so we'll see Jay and silent Bob again). We almost don't recognize him with short hair. In K-11, he's part of the drug dealing crew. Gets pretty rough, so definitely NOT for the kiddies. It's a prison, so expect anything to happen. And the ending is a little cheesy, but not bad for a first film. The sound and photography were actually very well done for a first-timer, but as she has been in the business for a while, Stewart certainly had the connections to hire professionals. ( Stewart is also Twilight star Kristen Stewart's mom!) Will definitely look for more projects from Stewart. Written and directed by Jules Stewart, based on an original story by Jared Kurt. K-11 seems to be the first project for her. Also son Cameron makes his first acting appearance. A whole lot of violence, cussing, and nudity. It is prison, after all. Not for the faint of heart.

I watched this film on a whim, didn't think much of it when I viewed a trailer of it. Let me tell you, although it does have some dramatic elements, 'K-11' was hilarious, especially during the beginning stages of the main character's introduction to a whole host of drug addicted inmates. Kate del Castillo (Mousey) was totally outrageous and fun to watch, trust me you'll understand why once you see her in action. Yes it was obvious K-11 was short on budget, but hey, they made due with what they had and did a good job considering. K-11 did not lack on the entertaining factor due to the various wacky characters, which is why I'm not bashing this film. I could guarantee you the cast had loads of laughs during filming. K-11 is not gratuitous, violent or vulgar as it could have been, but still manages to make you 'drop jaw' a few times throughout the film. So in my opinion, see K-11 for entertainment factor. So-called real film critics will pan this film, but don't let that sway you from viewing it. It's really not all that bad as they (real critics) may lead you to believe.

Goran Visnjic gives a sincere performance in the lead role, but really that is all that is halfway decent about K-11. And this was from actually seeing the movie and giving it a fair chance, so there goes that rather ignorant assumption. Some people probably didn't even see the trailer and saw it only for Visnjic, myself belonging in this camp. The script is confused, it is not sure whether it wants to have exploitation laughs or sombre tragedy. Instead it tries to incorporate both and neither work, the comedy being forced and can fall into the distasteful category for some and the tragedy being mawkish and you never care enough for the characters to genuinely feel it. Okay some of the grind-house punchlines are not so bad, but they are too far and between. The dialogue at best is tepid also. Another major failing is the story, it is slow and almost non-existent and you don't feel any of the tensions and fears of prison life. Part of the reason why you are not engaged with anything here is because the movie in an attempt to trying not to offend plays it too safe. There are also campy elements that are too artificially done and while the comic exaggerations are played for shocks, there was little that came across as genuinely shocking and instead it was too exaggerated and too overdone. There are cheaper-looking movies out there, however K-11 does nothing interesting with the photography or the single-room cell-block, they are just there with no signs of life. The music is pulpy and loud, but often overbears everything. I couldn't care less about who Jules Stewart's family is- that's never been an overriding factor in my judgement of movies, never has been, never will be and also it shouldn't be- what really matters is whether her involvement in K-11 worked in its favour. It didn't, it had intent sure but turned out to be every bit as confused as the script. Visnjic gives the only good performance, the rest struggle with the cardboard characters and give cartoonish caricatures in the process. All in all, apart from Visnjic- who deserved better than this- a messy movie that played it too safe and didn't know what to do with itself. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Someone likely had a good idea in planning this film: place a straight man in a prison cell area reserved for homosexuals and all variations of gender role playing. That concept could prove interesting as an exploration of 'community' among the 'unwanted' of detainees. But as written by Jared Kurt and Jules Stewart and especially as directed by Jules Stewart the film loses all semblance of originality, for one reason - because it casts women in the roles of transsexuals and transvestites so as not to offend the actors or the audience with same sex variations.But that is only one reason this film sinks. The script is tepid to poor, a story is practically nonexistent, and the characters are tropes played by actors who seem embarrassed by what they are asked to do. What little story there is can be summarized as follows: a wealthy but drug addicted and alcoholic record produced named Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic, one of our stronger actors usually) passes out, is arrested for homicide, and thrown into LA County Jail in a unit reserved for Homosexuals and sexual deviants K-11. From there it is a power struggle run by transvestite Mousey (the first female - Kate del Castillo - cast as a male and it doesn't work). Cocaine and other drugs are readily available through the corruption of Ben (Jason Mewes) who works in the office of the deputy Sgt. Johnson (DB Sweeney) who is likewise drug addled and preys on the inmates for sexual favors. Bad things happen, such as the murder of child molester Detroit (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister) by transsexual Butterfly (Portia Doubleday) and Raymond finally comes out of his cloudy drug abused head and figures a way out of this very odd confinement, but not without a series of meaningless circumstances that serve only to point out the depravity of the inmates.Yes, it is that bad. Try as you may to find a saving grace to this film is without success. Perhaps if the writers and director had had the courage to use an all male cast instead of putting female actors in the roles of men who are range from simply nelly to butch to surgically transformed (in various stages) into transsexuals the film may have had a reason for being made. As it is, it is an embarrassment for Goran Visnjic, and DB Sweeney and the rest of the actors who for some reason signed on to this poorly conceived and made project. Grady Harp