SHOT CALLER
US, 2017, 121 minutes, Colour.
Nikolaj Coster- Waldau, John Bernthal, Omari Hardwick, Lake Bell, Holt Mc Callany, Benjamin Bratt, Jeffrey Donovan, Evan Jones, Max Greenfield, Emory Cohen.
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
This is a little heard of film, which is a pity. It is not a film that everyone would enjoy but for those who like serious and strong dramas with moral issues and emotional issues, this can be recommended.
The film has been written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh, better known for his work in stunts since the 1980s.
The film opens and closes with letters, the opening with a letter from a criminal in jail to his son, the ending with a letter from the son to his father, in jail.
The structure of the film is such that it seems to start, in terms of the narrative, at point B. A man who has been behind bars for ten years is released just as there is a hanging in the corridor. He looks tough, especially with a handlebar moustache, lines in his face. He is picked up by other criminals, taken to accommodation, goes to a club where there is a drive-by shooting and he makes contact with a rather baby-faced veteran from Afghanistan with discussion about stolen arms.
When the screenplay unexpectedly takes us back to point A, it is quite a surprise. How could the man that we have just seen leaving prison be the rather dapper stockbroker, with wife and young son, dining at a fashionable restaurant and discussing business, be the same man who leaves jail ten years later?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau? is most persuasive in the central role, shading the character of the stockbroker in his good days and as a prisoner in his bad days.
The continued flashbacks from the continuing point B, take quite a while to show the details of what happened in point A, car accident, court case, imprisonment.
Where the film is very interesting, psychologically speaking, is in the experience of the man in jail – real name Jacob, nickname “Money� because of his being a stockbroker. The screenplay raises the questions about how one survives in jail, the pressures of gangs, racial segregation, emotional blackmail. And the question whether a prisoner under such pressures has the exercise of free will or not. To that extent, the film shows the steps in the gradual downfall of Jacob leading to fights in the courtyard, murders, connections with arms dealing outside the prison, corrupt guards.
There is some emotion during the sequences with the visit of Jacob’s wife (Lake Bell), her sadness, her being mystified by the changes in her husband, and her surname growing up during his teen years.
All this is leading to point C, what will happen to Jacob as he leaves prison, the talk of an arms deal and his taking control. His liaison is Shotgun (Jon Bernthal) whom he had known in prison but is now making the connections for handing over of the weapons to a Mexican cartel.
In the meantime, we have been introduced to some of the police in Los Angeles, especially Omari Hardwick seen in a raid and wounded immediately in action when confronting a suburban paedophile. He is also Jacob’s supervisor during his probation. It emerges that the police have a leak within the rogue group and we wonder how Jacob is going to handle the situation. At times, this is not a pretty picture. The scenes of the sale and the raid are well executed and we are still puzzling over Jacob’s motivation and his subsequent behaviour.
There are explanations, some coming right at the end, which means that the audience is involved throughout the film with Jacob and his character, the changes, the motivations, some dismay at his behaviour, some hopes for change in behaviour, but the audience puzzling and reflecting right up to the end of the film.
1. The title? The focus on Jacob and his life and career? The tone?
2. The Californian story, Los Angeles, prisons? The business world? The courts? Prison? Apartments, clubs, police precincts? The background of arms smuggling? The musical score?
3. The structure: starting with point B, moving back to point A, with flashbacks filling in the background? Moving forward towards point C?
4. The focus on Jacob, the strength of Nikolai Coster -Waldau’s presence and performance? His name, nickname in prison of “Money�? The opening film with his writing a letter to his son? His being freed, the hanging in the corridor, the corrupt guard and his communications? Jacob getting out? Meeting up with Shotgun? With Howie? The group, in the club, the encounter with the girl, drive-by shooting and her being shot? Jacob and his suspicions of a leak? Going to his apartment, the visit with the probation officer? His post-prison situation and the arms deals?
5. The insertion of the flashbacks? Jacob at home with his wife, with his son? His business life? The dinner, his being drunk? Driving, the accident? The passenger’s death? His facing the truth, DUI? In court, the interview with his lawyers, the advice of the plea, his wife not wanting it? The visits in prison? The widow suing him? His sentence?
6. The downhill trajectory of his life in prison? His arrival, the warnings, the men in the dormitory? Tough, the night attack on the weak prisoner? The gangs in the yard, the leader with his glasses? The race divisions? The pressures on Jacob? The talk, emotional blackmail? The drugs and his smuggling the container in his cavity, the toilet scene in getting the drugs out? His achievement? The connections? The violence in the yard, the enemies, his taking part in the attack, stabbing the prisoner? The viciousness of the leader with his glasses? To court, his wife present, the increase in his sentence? His wife filing for divorce? Not seeing his son?
7. His treatment in prison, isolation, the group going out to the individual cages, the white shorts, the exercise, the talk, the complicit guard? The introduction to Beast, his influence, running the arms deals from inside the prison? Beast wanting Jacob to participate – but the threat to his family?
8. The setup, Shotgun and his links with the police? The interview with the officer? Jacob coming to confront him, killing him? The swapping the phones? Giving information to the police, making the connections? The Mexican group, Jacob interviewing the leader, from the past in prison? With Howie, the information about the guns, his lies? The plan for the arms deal, the lorries, the drive, the meeting, information, the phones, the police and the waiting, the attack? Jacob’s arrest? His getting Howie out of the truck and getting him to vanish, Howie observing what went on?
9. The police stories? The story of Kutcher, the paedophile, going to the house, his being shot, his vest, getting into the house, shooting the paedophile and rescuing the girl? His fellow officers congratulating him? Planning with the group, the arms deals? His meeting with Jacob and his being the probation officer? The information, the death of Shotgun? The raid, the arrest, Jacob not giving him any information?
10. Jacob, going to see his wife, at the house, getting her to sign the documents, her security? Meeting his son and his son’s disappointment?
11. Sentenced to life, the cages, with Beast, smuggling in the weapon? Fighting Beast and killing him? His power over the guard, future running things?
12. The closing of the film and his letter to his son?
