Animal Factory

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Animal Factory

R,

2000,

1h 30m,

Drama/

Crime

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Watchlist

Watchlist

81%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

59%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

31 Reviews

59%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Suburbanite Ron (Edward Furlong) is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards -- that is, until he's befriended by Earl (Willem Dafoe), a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

Critics Consensus

Animal Factory is an honest attempt at a humanizing prison drama that stumbles with its performances but Buscemi's ambitious directing makes up for it.

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Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

Dec 19, 2001

You come away with the sense that you should have come to care (or at least to know) more about its central characters than you do.

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Amy Taubin

Village Voice

Aug 17, 2001

It's the relationship between Willem Dafoe, as Earl, the hard-time veteran, and Edward Furlong, as Ron, the new boy he takes under his wing, that makes the film so compelling.

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Elvis Mitchell

New York Times

Jan 1, 2000

3.5/5

A picture about adapting one's instincts, and Mr. Buscemi's deftness works well in this context.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 2, 2020

3.5/4.0

Tom Arnold deserves uncomfortable kudos as the kind of sexual predator you hear about in prisons but hope you never encounter.

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C.H. Newell

Father Son Holy Gore

May 5, 2019

4.5/5

An indictment of how we treat the lives of men deemed guilty and shipped to prison where they're packed in like sardines and forgotten about until their next court date.

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Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Jan 17, 2010

2/4

The opaque performances offer little in the way of shading.

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Luke L

Dec 9, 2017

The only thing that surprises you is Dafoe's bald head, doesn't mean it's a bad movie though.

Han P

Nov 10, 2017

Hardly groundbreaking, but I do love me a good prison flick. Animal Factory was directed by an actor (Steve Buscemi) and it shows because it relies almost entirely on the players to work. Virtually every aspect of the film is proficient but also slightly underwhelming with exception of the acting which is nearly perfect. Dafoe in particular turns in one of the most complex performances of his career.

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Steve Buscemi

Director

Willem Dafoe

Earl Copen

Edward Furlong

Ron Decker

Seymour Cassel

Lt. Seeman

Mickey Rourke

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A.R. Hosspack

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Synopsis

Suburbanite Ron (Edward Furlong) is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards -- that is, until he's befriended by Earl (Willem Dafoe), a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

Director: Steve Buscemi
Producer: Julie Yorn, Elie Samaha, Steve Buscemi, Andrew Stevens
Screenwriter: Edward Bunker, John Steppling
Production Co: Animal Productions LLC
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 30m

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