BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

gayeshortland Compelling watching and some terrific performances. A storyline that kept up the interest and camera work that knew how to caress its subjects. So what's my gripe? After several days' thinking about it, I have to conclude it was lesbian fantasy more than the realistic drama it claims to be. Treasure had beauty and impact and I LOVED Shadow's mobile face - but we might as well have been watching two teenage boys - theirs was a lean male beauty. And as for Brownie!! Great performance but why did she also have to have the physique of a man -- a squat brutal one in this case? There wasn't any sense that we were watching ordinary women in a terrible predicament. And had none of them men or children on the outside? Where was their history? That older woman in group session was almost stuck in to compensate for the lack of all that. Secondly I agree that Treasure's brooding impassive personality prevented us from knowing her thoughts and really feeling for her and in the end robbed the film of emotional impact.

desperateliving What would probably be referred to as a "gritty slice of life drama" on the movie box (I saw it on TV) is interesting insofar as it presents another perspective -- it's the female equivalent of the "Oz" TV show (produced by HBO films), without the smarmy sexuality (the women are appropriately mannish, but the film doesn't feel the need to make their sex aggressive and off-putting). There are a few brief moments of tenderness between the women, but it's mostly the same thing you get with the majority of prison life movies -- fights, friendships, back-stabbings, immoral guards -- just with female machismo. It sets up the inner life of the prison, these people who inhabit it, but it doesn't show us human beings in prison (despite the old-timers' advice in group therapy sessions), it shows us prisoners. I liked the ending, so it gets an extra point for that, simply as a story; but if you're looking for "cinema," look elsewhere. 7/10

twilightfades33 The director of this film was my professor for a beginning film class at Temple University this past semester. She is a very intelligent and funny woman, and at the end of the semester, we watched this film. Grades are in already, so don't think I'm posting this to brownnose, but I really enjoyed seeing Ms. Dunye's film. The "women-in-prison" plot is not an area covered very often in film, and when it is touched on, there are too many stereotypes to keep count of. Although there is some predictability in this film, the subject matter and themes were looked at from a very fresh angle. Ms. Dunye often talked to our class about incorporating reality and fiction together so that the two would blend and the line separating them would be blurry. This is exactly what she's accomplished in this film. The storyline is believable and the viewer becomes sympathetic to the characters; even though they are convicted prisoners, we look past the bars and into the minds of these women. We may not understand their motives, but we appreciate their actions. I'd recommend this film to anyone, especially those who've never seen a movie covering this subject area before.4/5

SRLReeves Well, sometimes life itself doesn't make perfect sense. This movie was so awesome. Heart touching. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The love scenes were like, so in tune.They weren't explicit, they used just enough for the imagination. But the ending, my heart almost skipped a beat. I guessed a lot of what was going to happen but never in a million years, did I expect all of that. You are in for a real treat. I felt the pain. Boy did I. That's all I am going to say for I will probably let it blurt out the ending if I don't stop now. Please watch. I watched with my mother. Mother and Daughter. And it was very heart touching.