Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie Review

Lock this one up or set it free?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 24, 2014

Life is choices. Make a good one.

Prison has a way of changing a man. He can either find more trouble or he can find himself. He can use it to build anger or to find peace and salvation. He can use it to engender hate or spread love. In Caged Animal, also known as The Wrath of Cain, a feared inmate, played by Ving Rhames (Dawn of the Dead, Saving God), struggles to find peace in the system, his hardened exterior and fearful stature clashing with a newfound search for salvation, a personal crisis, and a desire to bond with his troubled son. The film isn't a particularly great one, and certainly not the definitive prison-based picture. Yet it's a good, well balanced experience with a story that's not as tight as it might should be but one that's saved by another powerful performance from Ving Rhames.

Heaven help us.

Hardened inmate Cain (Rhames) is a man who nobody on the inside wants to anger, at least as long as they want to live. His dominating stature and no-nonsense attitude make him the most feared man on the inside. He's also a minor celebrity on the outside; teens who visit the prison in those "scare them into good behavior" field trips always ask about his stay. One day, his routine is upset when his old rival, Redfoot (Robert LaSardo), lands in prison after a drug deal gone bad. Complicating matters further is the arrival of Cain's son, Ricky, who has been sentenced to more than seven years after being found guilty of accessory to murder. Cain, faced with danger on the inside and a son he suddenly wants to rehabilitate and set straight, turns to God for answers. But a personal crisis that could cut his time with Ricky short looms large, forcing Cain to live every moment like it's his last and find a way to get through to Ricky before it's too late.

Considering Caged Animal's relatively low-budget roots, its unevenness both technically and thematically shouldn't come as much of a surprise. It offers a solid core story of redemption and bonding but otherwise falls a little flat. The movie is intimate, and rightly so, never feeling like a sprawling, lived-in, always-evolving world as those depicted in programs like Prison Break and Oz. This is an entirely different animal, so to speak, one that feels so closed-off it could almost pass for a stage production (and could probably be converted into a pretty good one). Yet there are little things that keep it from really finding its stride. It can be very slowly paced, even when clocking in at under 90 minutes. Long stretches feel like they're doing little to enhance critical plot details, and some of those that do find some quality developmental time seem to fall by the wayside and never make much of a significant impact. Fight scenes feel a little slow to develop and carefully executed rather than forceful and realistic.

The movie's strength, certainly, is Rhames, one of the best actors out there and a true force throughout the movie. His gradual change is not subtle but it's not forced, either. Rhames injects his character with a very real, tangible sense of necessary change that begins on the inside and manifests itself on the outside. Even as his challenges mount, his steadfastness in faith and purpose are commendable, with the actor selling the character's strengths, weaknesses, and determination with the sort of heavy yet relatable screen presence only he can provide. His co-stars never quite fare as well as him, but not to the movie's significant detriment. Robert LaSardo is good but never enjoys the screen time his character, or his portrayal thereof, deserves. Nipsey Hussle offers a fair performance as Ricky, whose evolution isn't quite so naturally progressive as that seen in Rhames' character. Fortunately, there's enough real, determined effort to sell the part's necessities well enough. The biggest disappointment is Robert Patrick, a solid actor who here appears to do little more than go through the motions in what is an admittedly simple part that requires little range or depth to fill.

Ultimately, however, and despite some ups and downs, the movie works on the whole. It's a nice little story of redemption, self-discovery, and the importance of finding oneself and fulfilling a purpose in life, even under the most difficult circumstances. It begins routinely, with segments and plot developments that show that business isn't always business and that the past is never just the past, but it evolves to say that the business of good work always supersedes the business of bad work and that a bright future is a more powerful ally than a dark past. While the movie is never as emotionally powerful, solidly constructed, or generally or widely appealing as it might have been -- this isn't a film fit for Sunday service and its Soap Opera-inspired final act doesn't feel quite right -- it's still a well spoken and well meaning picture about the good things in life and how they can emerge even from the worst.

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Caged Animal lets loose on Blu-ray with an iffy 1080p transfer. Light-to-heavy banding runs rampant throughout the film, marring almost every background in the movie. Pale black levels, light compression issues, and moderate noise scattered across darker backdrops are frequent guests. The HD video source does reveal a good, vibrant picture in outside segments. It's flat and smooth, but colors pop and details are crisp and well defined. Prison interiors, as generally dull as they may be, do manage to produce some telling details in the way of chipped paint, worn surfaces, and dings and dents. Lower light interiors don't inspire much confidence, revealing pasty skin details and warm flesh tones. Yet as a general rule, particularly in those brighter shots, scenes, and sequences, facial textures appear quite revealing and of natural coloration. The excess banding is easily the worst offender here, but this is nevertheless a watchable transfer, particularly if viewers either don't care or prepare themselves for the eyesore ahead of time.

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Caged Animal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack satisfies basic film requirements. Music is well spaced and aggressive, with a noticeably heavy low end and solid clarity throughout the range. The track produces a few little sonic environmental touches in various locations to better immerse the listener in the prison environment, such as sounds in the exercise yard or thuds reverberating in the hallway. A blaring alarm heard near the end represents the single most prominent sound effect in the film. It enjoys a robust stage presence and positive lifelike authenticity. Dialogue is the name of the game, however, and the spoken word is always clearly delivered through the center speaker.

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Caged Animal contains no supplemental features.

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Caged Animal never really fulfills its potential, but viewers can go in knowing it means well and strives to be its best, even considering a handful of shortcomings. It's dominated by a powerful lead performance from the always-excellent Ving Rhames who does all he can to carry the movie to a fruitful purpose. Spiritual overtones don't mean it's a film for easily offended spiritual people -- it's violent and filled with harsh language -- but its bend towards a more realistic presentation of life, redemption, and the bonds of family are unquestionably strong. Phase 4's Blu-ray release of Caged Animal features iffy video, passable audio, and no supplements. Worth a rental or a purchase at a rock-bottom price.