Animal Factory (2000)

Premise: A young man, Ron Decker (Edward Furlong), heads to prison for possession and traffiking. In his first month, Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe), a prisoner who claims that “this is my jail”, takes Ron under his wing.

Serious, what is with the year 2000? Who was it that convinced everyone to make a bunch of kick movies that year? I don’t know who s/he is, but I love her/him! S/he is the best!

Dafoe is one of my Top 5 greatest underrated American actors of the 20th and 21st centuries. There’s a good reason for my choice. Actually, probably a couple of a good reasons. First of all, look at his face. It’s like plastic. I know that a lot is made of Jim Carrey’s incredible facial contortions, but Dafoe is no slouch by comparison. Alternatively hilarious and frightening, Dafoe brings definition to every emotion.

If I were Furlong, I certainly would have liked him to be a mentor to me. Furlong has a small amount of magnetism to him and definitely some talent, but Dafoe could help him channel it better.

John Steppling and Edward Bunker’s (based on his novel) screenplay is powerful. Mostly quiet and masterful drawn, the occasional moments of action are intensely chilling. Unfortunately, Steppling and Bunker have but two or three writing credits, respectively, to their names. I wish they did more.

The direction, though, was beautiful. Genuinely beautiful. And here’s the kicker: it was directed by Steve Buscemi. Did you know that he directed? And did you know that he did it extremely well?

I admit that this is not a movie for everyone. In fact, it’s probably one of those movies that only April has ever seen. And that’s okay. But you should see it. I think you might like it.