Stoic (2009)

It's very rare for me to watch a movie rated below 5 stars on IMDb. But I have only watched one of Uwe Boll's films; Rampage. Which I loved. So I thought I would give this one a shot, and I was extremely surprised. This movie triumphs movies I've watched with a 7 star rating. The movie has a way a putting you in with those cell mates on that night when a poker game goes awry, seriously awry. You see the struggle for power, and how far they will actually go to maintain their stature in the hierarchy. It's interesting to see the confessions play linearly to it, and how their story changes as the movie progresses. And I loved the acting, it was fantastic. So all I have to say, is if you wanna see a horrific and heart wrenching night in a prison cell, watch this film.

Let me first say I didn't rent this movie, one of my co-workers did. We work nights and he put the movie on, so I couldn't leave work to avoid this atrocity! I didn't watch the entire movie, but heard it all.This movie actually ended up creating a long debate (which we all agree was the point of the movie). I felt that this movie had merit with the story, and agree that it needed to be told, but the imagery was nothing more than shock and gore factor (I agree with other reviews that it borders on sadistic porn).In my option, a good director should be able to get a point across about how horrific something is, without having to resort to horrific images.The movie ended with some redeeming points, but over all this movie made me wonder what's wrong with human beings (both the criminals who originally committed the crimes, and the people involved in making this movie).

Just like Stanley Kubrick is very, very overrated, Uwe Boll is way underrated. Some people even dare to compare him with Ed Wood, when he was way more talented than hacks as Kubrick. I hate video-games, I never played video-games, but I always found the movies of Uwe Boll beautiful and inspired, so I guess that his movies are way better than the games in which they are inspired."Alone in the Dark" was a very suspenseful and stylish film. Also, it was scary, not like trash as "Cannibal Holocaust" or "The Shining"."BloodRayne" was dark, stylish and sexy."In the Name of the king" was simply epic: Even when I have to admit that "The Lord of the Rings" films were good, I have to say that I liked this film more."Postal" was hilarious and satirical: The satire and the humor were way more accurate than "Doctor Strangelove". Also it was funnier."Stoic" was shocking and heartbreaking, much more than "A Clockwork Orange"."1968 Tunnel Rats" was a better war film than "Full Metal Jacket".As you see, Uwe Boll is way more talented than Kubrick. I just can't understand why there is so much hate against his films, he is one of the most talented filmmakers of our time.

I won't go into discussing previous Boll Movies because it won't help talking about Stoic for its completely different at least from the trash I've seen by Boll. Stoic is a pretty straight movie about 4 guys in a prison cell and the dark automatics that group dynamics can take. The movie is pretty slow which makes sense because it follows all the little steps that lead to a giant disaster. It focuses on the 3 guys torturing their cell mates beginning with macho humiliation games that turn into a murder masked as a suicide. The visuals are gritty and the atmosphere is dark and kind of nihilistic, yet this movie is based on a true recent case in which the convicts were just around 20 years old. Stoic is no masterpiece, sure but its a movie that serves its purpose... the acting is believable, the inter-cut interview sequences with the depicted real events work, the atmosphere is cold and realistic in that the motivation by fear is pretty obvious for all involved. There are now winners here but luckily the picture painted is not black and white but a dark gray. I hate when cases like this one are put aside with the bare argument that the killers were "animals" or something like that because it almost never is simple like that. I like movies like Stoic for forcing the viewer to look at a side of humanity that is dormant in all of us until we are dropped into situations like the one depicted here and who knows if you or me wouldn't do things we can't think of now when fear messes up our rationality.I think the possibilities of group dynamics were depicted in a raw and realistic way... kind of reminded me of the bleak outcome in "Eden Lake". And in that it made me think after the credits rolled it sure was a good movie. I can understand if some people consider it too slow or too exploitative, yet I wouldn't say that myself. But a rating of 3 points with most reviews positive seems to finally prove that a lot of people really just hate Boll whatever he does. Up to now I saw no reason to argue for Boll but with this film I do since it is definitely far better than Bolls previous outputs.