‘Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven...’
We know about Steve Buscemi as an actor. And he’s wonderful. But his eclectic directing career has flown under the radar. I loved Trees Lounge, Buscemi’s debut feature about a loveable barfly, and so it was with some excitement that I approached Animal Factory, a more conventional follow up to that film. While it probably isn’t as enjoyable as the flick that preceded it, there is still enough here to suggest that Buscemi should have been given more opportunities behind the camera…
When Decker (Edward Furlong) is convicted of drug charges and thrust into San Quentin, Earl (Willem Dafoe) – a more experienced convict – takes Decker under his wing. Joining those two 90s stalwarts is an ensemble cast featuring Danny Trejo, Mark Boone Junior, Mickey Rourke, Tom Arnold and John Heard. It’s like a who’s who of 90s character actors.
Prison movies are great but by their very nature they often succumb to overused tropes and cliches. Animal Factory is no different, there is the butch queen (wonderfully brought to life by Mickey Rourke), the wet-behind-the-ears fresh fish (Furlong) and the inscrutable old hand (Dafoe), as well as a rotating cast of side characters and hustlers. Buscemi himself briefly appears as the warden. While the story is based on Edward Bunker’s semi autobiographical novel (Bunker appears in the film as Buzzard) it still all feels like stuff we have seen before. Luckily, Buscemi’s assured direction and a sterling effort from the experienced cast tie everything together nicely. My main criticism would be that after an incredibly strong opening hour, the whole thing kind of tails off before reaching a low key conclusion. It also occurred to me watching this how sad it is that Furlong’s career never really took off after all his early success. He picked great roles and brought a slice of humanity to all of them. Underrated.
In summary, Animal Factory is not as good as Trees Lounge and it’s not as good as the best films in this genre but it is a competent and compelling look at life behind bars. Another success for Buscemi.