Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 1, 2017

Steve Buscemi is one of those actors who has crafted a long and incredibly successful career courtesy of any number of efforts like Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Big Lebowski , and Ghost World (as well as television’s Boardwalk Empire, which probably helped to make him more of a household name for younger audience members at least), but who nonetheless probably wouldn’t instantly spring to the top spot on a list in anyone’s mind if they were asked to name a movie star. Similarly, Buscemi’s directorial output has been at least occasionally widely praised, but which even many of Buscemi’s fans probably aren’t overly aware of. Animal Factory is a 2000 effort with a pretty starry cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, John Heard, Danny Trejo, Mickey Rourke and Tom Arnold (OK, so five out of six ain’t bad), and it’s often an incredibly visceral viewing experience, even if it does tread on some already pretty well worn material. In fact, had Animal Factory shown up in my review queue before the relatively recently reviewed Shot Caller, I may well have mentioned the long ago and now largely forgotten made for television film The Glass House (those interested can read about it in my Shot Caller Blu-ray review). Animal Factory is yet another film about a young naif thrown into the maelstrom of a modern prison environment, and while it never really even attempts to do anything overly innovative with this basic (and oft used) premise, it manages to sustain a level of credibility, perhaps due to the fact that it was based on a novel by an actual ex-con, the writer and actor Edward “Eddie” Bunker, whose book No Beast So Fierce provided the source for Straight Time. In the commentary included on this Blu-ray release, Bunker states that he wrote the novel form of Animal Factory (which included a definite article in its title, The Animal Factory) specifically with a film adaptation in mind, and that in fact he had Buscemi in mind for the director’s position pretty much from the get go.

If Shot Caller’s connection to The Glass House is arguably one between characters played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (in Shot Caller) and Alan Alda (in The Glass House), then it might be more accurate to draw a parallel between Animal Factory’s young protagonist, Ron Decker (Edward Furlong), and the inexperienced kid played by Kristoffer Tabori in The Glass House. Animal Factory pretty much plops Ron down in stir without a lot of setup, quickly documenting the fact that the kid had the bad luck to be dealing marijuana (in the days when it was still illegal, obviously), and who is further hobbled by an ineffective and uninvolved father, James Decker (John Heard). A kind of surrogate father figure quickly arrives in prison, however, in the form of longtime “resident” Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe), who, in one of the film’s perhaps unhelpful elisions, more or less takes Ron under his wing for no really easily discernable reason.

Animal Factory is kind of vignette driven, with Ron repeatedly put in harm’s way (frequently sexual, for those who may be squeamish about such things), only to be just as repeatedly rescued by either Copen or one of Copen’s many acolytes. Despite the “sameness” of some of these interactions, the film has a really interesting, gritty and at times even surprisingly funny ambience, though there are a number of patently disturbing scenes involving attempted rapes and carnage courtesy of things like shivs or straight edged razors. The film offers a number of nicely modulated performances, especially by Dafoe and Trejo as two “old timers” who have been in prison long enough to pretty much run the place. Perhaps against considerable odds, even Arnold comes off surprisingly well as a bullying inmate with sexual designs on young Ron.

Dafoe in fact excels at portraying a supposed “lowlife” who is obviously a lot smarter than many of the officials working for the prison. Copen’s dismissal of the idiots handing him reports to type up, reports riddled with grammatical errors, is perhaps one salient example of the kind of cheekiness that the personal experiences of Bunker (who also co-wrote the film’s screenplay with John Steppling) bring to the enterprise. Arguably less effective is Mickey Rourke as a cross dressing inmate who identifies as "Jan", in a performance that may simply be a little too over the top in a To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar sort of way for this otherwise gritty exploration. Despite an ending that admittedly stretches the bounds of believability, the rest of Animal Factory is one of the more compelling treatments of life inside a teeming prison institution. It bristles with a kind of verisimilitude that many jail set pieces don’t, and despite being overly familiar a lot of the time, it still delivers some powerful emotional impact.

Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Animal Factory is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet contains only some fairly generic information about this transfer:

Animal Factory is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 2.0 stereo sound. The high definition master was produced and delivered by Ambie Distribution.

That lack of detailed information may raise some suspicions among ardent videophiles, and while this doesn't rise to the best levels Arrow often offers, there's nothing I'd term overly problematic about this presentation. There are still occasional blemishes to be seen (one especially bad one pops out on none other than Steve Buscemi's forehead during a parole hearing where Buscemi portrays an official), and the palette is a bit on the dowdy side much of the time, without a ton of saturation. That said, the ubiquitous "prison blues" pop reasonably well, and when the film ventures outside into the prison yard, the entire palette warms at least somewhat, with an attendant uptick in detail levels. Grain isn't especially heavy, but is noticeable, especially when there are lighter backgrounds in the frame.

Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Animal Factory features an LPCM 2.0 track that delivers all elements (which are mostly dialogue and ambient environmental effects) with consistency and overall excellent fidelity. There are a couple of moments where I felt some of the dialogue in more raucous prison yard sequences gets a bit lost in the fray, but my assumption is that is source related and part of the original mix. John Lurie's minimal score contributions also sound fine and clear on this problem free track.

Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Eddie Bunker and Danny Trejo


• Eddie Bunker: Life of Crime (1080p; 20:50) features critic and author Barry Forshaw (American Noir: The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction) talking about Bunker, who passed away in 2005.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:15)

Additionally, Arrow has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet with writing and stills.

Animal Factory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are a lot of films about innocents trying to survive in the wild and wooly environment of a modern institutional prison. Truth be told, Animal Factory never even tries to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but it's rather sturdily constructed nonetheless, with a really good central performance by Dafoe and some good supporting turns by at least some of the other performers. Buscemi shapes the material well, even if credulity is stretched to the breaking point at a couple of key junctures, including the kind of weird feel good ending. Video encounters some minor hurdles, but audio is fine on this release, and the supplements, while not bounteous, are also enjoyable. Recommended.