Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Jim Mullen Tate (TheFearmakers) The centerpiece of this, the ultimate ensemble prison drama, isn't the child molester aka "Short Eyes" (Bruce Davison) put into a cell-block of tough convicts who, after finding out his crime, turn the premises into their own courtroom, but a young handsome Puerto Rican nicknamed Cupcakes, played by the late Tito Goya, who has to deal with - or take advice from - these same toughies before, during and after the molester's story becomes center stage. While not the main character, Goya's youthful protagonist provides the core of the boiling pot involving a bevy of eclectic, dangerous cons from a tough Italian (Joseph Carberry), a stubborn black muslim (Don Blakey), a sexually-driven Puerto Rican (Shawn Elliott), two laidback but badass African Americans (Nathan George, Ken Steward), and the film's true star: a good-hearted Rican "idealist," played brilliantly by Luis Perez, who feels called-upon to protect Goya and the molester both. Based on the play by Miguel Pinero, also appearing as an antagonistic prisoner (if the film has a villain, he's it), all one can say is: you have to see it to believe it. And a soulful "singalong" with Curtis Mayfield and Freddie Fenders adds soul to the brash proceedings. (cultfilmfreaks.com)

moonspinner55 Miguel Piñero adapted his own play (and co-stars as Go-Go) in this no-nonsense examination of life behind bars in a racially-heated men's jail. The prisoners segregate themselves by race, insulting each other with slurs which quickly lead to thrown punches, and yet this racial pride is really the most we learn about any of them. Bruce Davison stirs things up as the new inmate, one of only three white men in the cell-block, who admits to having a fixation on little girls; he can't remember if he molested a recent accuser or not, but quickly becomes the target of the other inmates' rage. Davison's monologues about a lifelong predilection for jailbait don't quite contain the honest ring of truth, yet are still terribly difficult to listen to, as is most of the dialogue. The scenario is commendably not exploitative--and is blessedly free of being sexually or violently explicit--though the threat of rape hangs in the air, possibly meant as a scare tactic for younger viewers. Still, Piñero's narrative is loftier than your average cautionary tale, and the film--although far from incisive--is a hard-hitting portrait of jailhouse life. ** from ****

spanishfli The performances in film version of Short Eyes are perhaps some of the best I've seen. Short Eyes, in prison slang, means child molester. The whole play revolves on a white pedophile Clark Davis interacting in a prison whose majority are Puerto Ricans and Blacks, and Davis' interaction with Juan who attempts to come to terms with Davis' need for sex with children.There are several memorable characters such as the very young and tender Julio, known as Cupcakes by the prisoners, who is the target of unwanted homosexual attention by several, if not all, prisoners. El Raheem is a strong black man, perhaps a Black Panther, who studies the Koran all day long and acts on his feelings of anger towards white people. Longshoe Murphy is a tough young Irish. And of course Clark Davis and Juan, who are the main characters of the play.Pinero, who plays GoGo in his the film version of his play, wrote this play while in Sing Sing prison at around 1974 for armed robbery, and first was performed by a cast of prisoners. Short Eyes had a very short success on Broadway.The only problem of the movie is the cinematography-it is rather boring, especially in this time where special FX of Lord of the Rings is rather common. But there are two or three rather beautiful scenes, one with a prisoner posing in front of a poster. Despite the very dated lackluster cinematography, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this film.

zetes Maybe the best prison film ever made because its origin is people who were actually in prison, most notably its main author, Miguel Piñero. The film deals with the interrelationship between the prisoners of a cell block. That's what most of the film is, the observation of these men and their culture. The plot of the film is about a new arrival (Bruce Davison) who has been arrested as a suspect on a child molestation charge. He's never been in prison, and he's very afraid, which, of course, he should be. Short Eyes doesn't make any easy choices at all, which makes for a particularly uncomfortable movie to watch. But it also makes it one of the gutsiest and most important films ever made, and it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's one of only two movies that I've ever watched twice right in a row. Well, the second time was with commentary by the director (and another man, whose participation in the film I don't exactly know), because I wanted to know exactly how this film came about, and to confirm my guess that there was some kind of inside track to prison life behind the scenes. There was far more than I could have guessed; the commentary also ranks as one of the best I've ever listened to. A masterpiece.