User Reviews

When the tow truck driver and former boxer Bradley Thomas (Vince Vaughn) is fired from his job, he decides to work transporting drugs for his friend Gil (Marc Blucas) to have a better life with his wife Lauren Thomas (Jennifer Carpenter). Bradley is a family man and eighteen months later, Lauren is pregnant of a girl. Gil decides to associate to the drug dealer Eleazar (Dion Mucciacito) against Bradley's will. When he goes to bring a shipment of drugs with two men from Eleazar's gang, they do not follow his instructions and they stumble upon the police. Bradley protects the police officers killing one of the gangsters and is arrested. Bradley does not rat Gil and is sent to a medium security prison for a seven-year sentence. Two days later, Bradley is visited by a mysterious man that tells that Lauren has been kidnapped by Eleazar, who lost his shipment and two men in the operation. He tells that Bradley must kill an inmate called Christopher Bridge that is inmate in the cell Block 99 of a maximum security prison. Otherwise Lauren will be submitted to a surgery to remove the limbs of her baby that will be sent to him. What will Bradley do?

"Brawl in Cell Block 99" is one of the most brutal and graphic prison movies ever made. This genre usually produces good films and series and "Brawl in Cell Block 99" is no exception. However this film is more graphic than most of them and the underrated Vince Vaughn has an extraordinary performance in one of his best roles. The plot is realistic and scary, and Bradley Thomas is an intriguing character, family man with moral values and extremely brutal when necessary. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Confronto no Pavilhão 99" ("Showdown in the Cell Block 99")

Note: on 13 November 2022, I saw this film again.

"You said you would never work for Gil. So we're both breaking promises today."

Vince Vaughn in a crime movie where he plays a rough-looking drug dealer? You gotta be kidding me. Although he surprised me with an excellent part in "Hacksaw Ridge", I always associate him with feel-good, romantic crap movies with the kind of humor I never laugh about in most cases. Well, I was totally wrong this time. Vince Vaughn is ruthless, mega calm and ultra-brutal in this extreme violent film. Better yet. He's even funny now. Funnier than whatever comedy he played in before. And this thanks to the dryly, humorous remarks he makes sometimes. The moment someone mentions his name again, I'll see that tattooed cross on the back of a bald skull directly in front of me.

Life hasn't been so good for Bradley (Vince Vaughn). After being fired, he finds out that his wife Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter) is cheating on him. Next he starts working as a drug runner to bring in some money. Before he knows it, he's facing a long prison sentence because of a failed drug deal. And from that moment on, the movie changes into a higher gear. Indeed, the movie wasn't really fast till that moment. Before you even see anything of a prison, you've been watching the screen already for some time. And then it goes from bad to worse for Bradley. His wife is being kidnapped by the leader of the drug gang (who wants to regain his financial loss) and Bradley has to kill an inmate who's locked up in cell 99 in the heavely guarded prison of Red Leaf.

This is without a doubt Vince Vaughn's best acting achievement ever. Finally his impressive body is being used for the right purpose. Relentlessly beating up opponents and transforming them into a pile of crushed human flesh. Something that'll happen regularly in this ultra-violent film. Every time it looks as if Bradley has to lift his immensely heavy limbs and strike a guard or another criminal with devastating force in the face. The result is always repulsive brutal. Seeing a skull bursting open like an overripe tomato or the awareness of what the Korean is going to do with Bradley's wife, may be a bit too much for some. "Brawl in cell block 99" certainly isn't a film for sensitive viewers. But this sadistic violence serves a purpose. Bradley has a specific goal in mind and is therefore forced to take this violent path.

There were a few things in this film that shocked me. The fact that I didn't recognize Don Johnson baffled me. Was it because of that gigantic mustache? Or was it his age (he's already 67 years old)? Or is it just me? And then of course the fact that I'm speechles about the acting of Vince Vaughn, who clearly deviates from his usual acting pattern. I don't think of Vaughn as being one of my favorite actors. But after his performance here, I have to revise my opinion about him. And finally the impression this film made on me. I'm not easily shocked and got my share of extremities used in movies. But this time I was a little bit out of my depth. Somehow the movie messed me up. And that's not necessarily because of the explicit violence. It's the overall feeling. I do know that next time I come across a movie with Vince Vaughn playing in it, it won't be so obvious to just avoid it. He literally knocked himself to the top of my list of "the better" actors.

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Well throughout film history we've all enjoyed a good prison movie watch am I right?! Stallone bringing it in with Lock Up, that was my first looks into the prison life setting. Relatively young, with no prison experience behind or in front of me fortunately this film made you never commit a crime. there has been many others through out film history that have stuck with us over the years, one of this generation that just might stick for a while is Brawl in Cell Block 99 staring Vince Vaughn. This hard look and rough life of the main character is brought to you by the man behind Bone Tomahawk, if you haven't seen Bone yet please do so, building quite a following from cult fans and Hollywood actors is steadily growing. this man is S. Craig Zahler, writer, director, even composer of this film which is great. Normally wearing many hats in the industry means you have too because your an independent filmmaker, the budget is there so I'm sure its for creative control of the film, written and directed I'm sure its creative control of the film that is produced is exactly what you've envisioned. Now onto Brawl in Cell Block 99, don't be deceived by title, its sort of a brawl throughout multiple locations. We start with the main character Bradley Thomas who is a repo man that gets fired at the start, just in the first 10 minutes you surely get the feel that this character is going to battle throughout, life is going to throw it at him one punch at a time. after being fired and going home he sees his wife lauren Thomas played by the very talented Jennifer Carpenter, looks like she's had a long night sort a speak and he see's this and loses his temper. Its evident at this point that Bradley is going to go through it for sure. Bradley looking for a new job and a way to pay the bills, has to resort to his past life, running drugs, guns, etc. you name it for his employer Gil ( Marc Blucas) and his associates. needless to say things go south while taking one of these jobs and costs a few people a lot of money, thus going to prison on a plea would've been nice, at first its a minimum security prison, very lax and some of the others there are friendly and warm up to him, then Bradley receives a visitor at the prison Placid Man ( Udo Kier) and tells him that his wife and they're unborn child would be harmed in a most gruesome way if he does not kill a fellow inmate in the prison, but not this one, a different prison that is a high security maximum penitentiary run by warden Tuggs (Don Johnson) and its a lawless place basically void of life for the worst of the worst criminals. Ill let who ever reads this extend their time to watching it because it is a decently directed, well acted film, but let me forewarn you, just like his other films S. Craig Zahler has under his belt he shows you not a quick story to be rushed through, these films build characters, locations, and more importantly the will to watch a longer film and feel like its not dragging you across concrete, little pun there. Overall Vince, Jennifer, Udo, and many other cast members truly bring this universe to life for Bradley Thomas, so enjoy the ride, or should I say the Brawl in Cellblock 99.

A stand-out performance for Vince Vaughn, who is usually remembered as that smart-ass talkative dude in those romantic comedies. But his mesmerizing and unforgettable portrayal of the Bradley in this film places him, in my opinion, in the pedestal of memorable action film roles. Jennifer Carpenter and Don Johnson, who together with other players, also has helped solidify the narrative that the director/writer wishes to express.

The character Bradley's demeanor reminded me of the type that he played in the superbly haunting film The Cell. His imposing, statuesque figure is put to good use, I should say, and I can't help having a soft spot for a big guy like that who would rather spend his free time whilst serving his jail sentence knitting baby feet warmers than play boxing. But the gods of tragedy has different plans.

I only managed to watch the "skimmed milk" version, the one that had to abide the certain ratings guidelines, and yet it still has not robbed me of any fun. The. DVD will have to fill me up with on the gratuitous bits I have been denied, I guess, but I feel that the brilliantly executed fight scenes are more than just some choreographed mindless brawling. The mindless part perhaps, one could say, on the part of the wardens who always finds it difficult to subdue Bradley having gone bat-(bleep) crazy on them or the bad guys trying to beat the excrement out of him to make his stay in the prison a depiction of hell.

My rating: A-minus. Really.

Having grown up in the seventies and eighties through a wonderful era of exploitation cinema, I can appreciate this film for what it is.

I am shocked though at the high ratings it has received.

The fire fight on the wharf when the police show up is laughable. The cops and the drug dealers unloading all manner of weapons and hiding behind their cars whilst only seemingly ten to fifteen metres apart. Seriously?

Fans of Blood in, Blood Out, American Me, Animal Factory and Runaway Train should enjoy this film.

What a pity the late Edward Bunker wasn't still around to polish and tighten up the screenplay.

I have to admit I didn't expect much of a movie with a title like Brawl in Cell Block 99. It's not the most appealing title, that's the least we can say. But it was actually a good action movie with some pretty hardcore violent scenes. Some people will find them a bit harsh to watch, but I didn't mind it at all, I even applaud it. It's gore but also funny to me. So if you read negative reviews about this movie it will come from people that can't cope with violent scenes like in this movie. The story isn't bad at all, even if it was a bit predictable. But since it is an action movie I was not expecting a difficult story. A good revenge story, nothing beats making your own justice. Vince Vaughn has the physique to play his character. His fighting scenes might be a bit slow but they fitted his character perfectly. So if you like me like hardcore revenge movies you will probably like this one as well.

I got to watch Brawl in Cell Block 99 after previously seeing Bone Tomahawk and Dragged Across Concrete. I am a big fan of both movies and was looking forward to seeing this one since it appears to be the best-reviewed of Zahler's three movies. Unfortunately, after an almost stellar first half, the movie suddenly delves into the nonsensical and loses most of its charm.

Craig Zahler has a tendency to write dialogue that is overly snappy and somewhat unnatural-sounding. Out of his trio of movies, I feel like this one is the worst offender. Despite this, Cell Block 99 has a great first half. The depiction of "the Fridge" is quite realistic as far as I can tell and succeeds in creating the dreary atmosphere of jail.

As soon as Bradley is transferred to Red Leaf, however, things suddenly change for the worse. Realism goes completely out the window. I find it very hard to believe that such a prison can actually exist, which hurts the believable dreariness that we had seen previously. What follows is a series of ludicrous action scenes. I believe that this turn was a deliberate decision, but it doesn't work. It feels like two different movies - one great, the other pretty bad.

vince Vaughan gives the performance of his life in this prison revenge movie. i heard it was extremely violent, but it's movie violence and if you're expecting it, them it's not that bad. vince is basically a decent fella who gets caught up in drug trafficking, sent to prison and must commit a murder to pay back a debt. that's about it. don Johnson is a long way from Miami vice days. but not bad.