Murder in the First tells the story of a petty thief who was imprisoned in Alcatraz and attempted to escape, as punishment he was kept in solitary confinement for three years which made him a touch crazy. When he is let out of the dungeon he kills the prisoner who grassed him up by stabbing him with a spoon and is put on trial for first degree murder. Christian Slater plays his young lawyer who takes it upon himself to argue that it was Alcatraz and the conditions he was kept in and the beatings that he took that made him act how he did and so he shouldn't be found guilty of murder.
It says at the start of the film that it is inspired by a true story and from this I kind of got the feeling that what actually happened would bear little resemblance to the movie but the movie does tell a good story and this story was made all the more intriguing by the acting of the three principal parts. Kevin Bacon undoubtably gave the best performance of the three and arguably the best of his career as the abused prisoner (who appears to be slightly mental when it suits the story), Slater is good as his lawyer and Gary Oldman is, as usual and evil SOB as Milton Glenn the man responsible for most of the mistreatment.
I thought it was a good film that was well acted and excellently directed. If you want to watch a movie with a good story then watch Murder in the First your time won't be wasted. |
