The Stanford Prison Experiment

Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and written by Tim Talbott, The Stanford Prison Experiment is the story of the real life experiment created by Dr. Philip Zimbardo where students would play prisoners and guards as the experiment becomes very dangerous. The film is a dramatic account of the experiment that led to a lot of controversy with Billy Crudup playing the role of Dr. Philip Zimbardo. Also starring Ezra Miller, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Angarano, Logan Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Ki Hong Lee, Tye Sheridan, Jack Kilmer, and Nicholas Braun. The Stanford Prison Experiment is a chilling yet visceral film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez.

In the summer of 1971 at Stanford University in California, psychology professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo decides to conduct a two-week experiment with 18 male students who would be paid $15 a day to volunteer where 9 students would play prisoners and 9 would play guards in a fictionalized prison. The objective was to study the psychological aspects of how prisoners deal with being prison and endure the abuse of the guards. What happens during the experiments is that things go too far where the students playing the guards become too comfortable with their roles while the prisoners either rebel or fall apart emotionally and psychologically. The film is about the experiment as it was considered very controversial as it showcases what Dr. Zimbardo was trying to do and how far it went where even those who are working with Dr. Zimbardo are taken aback at how far it’s gone.

Tim Talbott’s screenplay does have a unique structure where it is told in the span of days where time during this fictional prison is very slow but also confusing from the point-of-view of the prisoners. During the duration of two-weeks, prisoners would have emotional breakdowns while there are those who are willing to do what the guard says as either as a way to survive or not cause trouble. Yet, it would be observed by Dr. Zimbardo and members of his staff including a former prisoner in Jesse Fletcher (Nelsan Ellis) who also observes to see how real it is despite the fact that cells are offices and much of the action is in a hallway. Prisoners would have meetings with Dr. Zimbardo and others as if they’re being interrogated where it would eventually become too much not just for the young men playing the prisoners but also those in Dr. Zimbardo’s staff as well as Fletcher who would be forced to play a part that makes him very uncomfortable.

Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s direction is very intense in terms of what goes on in the experiment as the film is shot in a building in Los Angeles where there are very little exterior shots to play into an atmosphere that is very gripping. While there are a few exterior shots of the Stanford campus and the home of one of the volunteers pretending to be a prisoner, much of it is shot in the building where it has an intimacy that is very discomforting. Notably in the close-ups in how the guards interact and intimidate the prisoners where it feels too real at times as well as wondering when is someone going to break. The fact that much of the action takes place in this small hallway with rooms as prison cells has this air of claustrophobia in its look and feel. The scenes where Dr. Zimbardo and his staff are watching through a small TV that has a camera filming everything is just as eerie where there is more coverage in the wide and medium shots. Once the film progresses more and more as one day becomes the next, the mood definitely gets darker and more tense. Especially in a mock parole scene where Fletcher plays a parole board member who would list false charges a prisoner makes as Dr. Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend Christina Maslach (Olivia Thirlby) would look at what Fletcher is reading and see nothing.

Alvarez also create these moments where the prisoners try to find a way to break out but also deal with what is happening to them emotionally and mentally. The scenes where the prisoners and guards have to meet for a daily routine, the way they’re presented each day does intensify where a new prisoner would come in as he is just aghast in the experiment he’s volunteered for. Especially as what happens become terrifying as Dr. Zimbardo would be forced to watch everything as his colleagues begin to question the experiment itself. The film’s aftermath wouldn’t just showcase how troubling the experiment was but also the situations these volunteers had been put in through where it says a lot about the many complexities of human nature. Overall, Alvarez creates an unsettling yet evocative film about a man’s experiment about human behavior set in a prison.

Cinematographer Jack Shelton does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography to create different moods for much of the lighting in the cells and hallways as well as the rooms where Dr. Zimbardo and his team are watching everything. Editor Fernando Collins does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of-slow motion, jump-cuts, and other stylish cuts to play into the tension and drama that looms throughout the film. Production designer Gary Barbosa, with set decorator Sandra Skora and art director Andres Cubillan, does fantastic work with not just the look of the hallway and cells but also this cramped room known as the Hole as well as rooms that Dr. Zimbardo and his team would observe everything.

Costume designer Lisa Tomczeszyn does nice work with the costumes as much of the casual look is from clothes from the 70s while the look of the prisoners are ragged with just a long shirt and a pantyhose stocking as a cap. Sound editor Martyn Zub does terrific work with the sound as it‘s mostly low-key in how some of the sound is recorded at the Dr. Zimbardo‘s office to what it sounds naturally at the hallway. The film’s music by Andrew Hewitt is wonderful for its ambient-based score that plays into the drama as well as some of the terrifying moments in the film.

The casting by Angela Demo and Barbara J. McCarthy is great as it feature some notable small roles from Albert Malafronte as a priest, James C. Victor and Kate Butler as the parents of one of the prisoners in Peter Mitchell, and Fred Ochs as a professor who unknowingly makes an unexpected visit on the experiment. Other notable small roles include Moises Arias, Nicholas Braun, and Gaius Charles as the three associates of Dr. Zimbardo who are tasked to observe with him as they become more uncomfortable with the experiments. In the roles of some of the prison guards, the performances of Keir Gilchrist, James Wolk, Matt Bennett, James Frecheville, Mile Heizer, Callan McAuliffe, Benedict Samuel, and Harrison Thomas are superb in the roles as guys who act abusive with some becoming uneasy in what they’re doing in the experiment. In the roles of some of the prisoners, Chris Sheffield, Jack Kilmer, Brett Daverne, Jesse Carere, Logan Miller, Johnny Simmons, and Ki Hong Lee are excellent as a group of men who volunteer to play prisoners as they endure abuse and humiliation of the worst kind with some trying to find ways to survive.

Thomas Mann is fantastic in a small role as prisoner 416 who comes to the experiment late in the film as he deals with the harsh surroundings he is in as well as what he is forced to do. Nelsan Ellis is brilliant as Jesse Fletcher as a former convict who is asked by Dr. Zimbardo to observe as some of the events make him uncomfortable as he would have to confront one volunteer about his claim of being sick and another where he pretends to be a parole board figure. Olivia Thirlby is amazing as Christina Maslach as Dr. Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend who fills in for the observation where she becomes uncomfortable with what is happening. Tye Sheridan is remarkable as Peter Mitchell/prisoner 819 who tries to defy authority as he later endures some emotional and mental abuse that becomes too much for him to deal with.

Ezra Miller is marvelous as Daniel Culp/prisoner 8612 as the most rebellious prisoner who would always push the buttons of the guards only to be pushed back big time as he would try to make an escape. Michael Angarano is phenomenal as the guard Christopher Archer who would take his role too seriously as he would play a sadist as if he was John Wayne as it’s a fun yet dark performance from Angarano. Finally, there’s Billy Crudup in a remarkable performance as Dr. Philip Zimbardo as a psychological professor who is trying to create a study on human nature in a prison where he pushes things further to see how far things can go too far.

The Stanford Prison Experiment is a spectacular film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Featuring a great ensemble cast and a fascinating study on human nature and might happen to someone in prison. It’s a film showcases a man’s experiment and how far it went as it shows some of the horror of what might happen at a prison. In the end, The Stanford Prison Experiment is a riveting and harrowing film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez.

© thevoid99 2016

The Soloist

After two back-to-back successful films, British filmmaker Joe Wright was already one of the hot rising directors emerging into the mainstream. His 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and 2007’s Atonement had helped established Wright as a director who can create lush imagery. For his third film, Wright went to Los Angeles to direct a true story about a journalist who befriends a homeless musician suffering from schizophrenia called The Soloist.

Based on the book and articles of Steve Lopez, The Soloist is the story of how the troubled Lopez meets Nathaniel Ayers. Ayers was once a cello prodigy who became troubled by schizophrenia by the time attends Julliard and eventually becomes homeless. Directed by Joe Wright and screenplay by Susannah Grant, the film is a dramatic tale of how a troubled journalist’s life is changed by the meeting of a gifted musician as Robert Downey Jr. plays Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Ayers. Also starring Catherine Keener, Stephen Root, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Nelsan Ellis, Rachael Harris, and appearances from Wright’s Pride & Prejudice co-stars Jena Malone and Tom Hollander. The Soloist is an interesting but lackluster drama from Joe Wright.

Despite being an acclaimed journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez is a man whose life isn’t going very well. Divorced from his wife/L.A. Times Mary (Catherine Keener), Lopez is trying to find some way to get himself back on good terms following a bike accident. During treatment for his accident, he hears a violin playing in a yard as he comes across a homeless man named Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. Learning that he was in Julliard, he tries to find information as he was a student in the early 1970s only to drop out after a two year stint. After calling Nathaniel’s sister Jennifer (Lisa Gay Hamilton), he learns about Nathaniel’s life as a child as his mother (Lorraine Toussaint) believes he will do great.

After writing an article about Ayers, an old woman suffering from arthritis gives Lopez her cello for Ayers to play. After seeing Ayers at a tunnel, he gives him the cello as Lopez hears Ayers play as he realizes that he and the cello need to be in a safe place. Convincing Ayers to stay at a homeless shelter, it turns out to be a good idea as a doctor (Nelsan Ellis) helps out while suggesting that Ayers should get an apartment later on. The friendship slowly builds as Lopez also works on other assignments as he also takes Ayers to a rehearsal though it wasn’t easy due to Nathaniel’s attachment to his shopping cart. With things moving slowly, Lopez gets an apartment for Ayers despite some reluctance.

After bringing in a renowned cello player named Graham Claydon (Tom Hollander) to see Ayers, Claydon agrees hoping to help Ayers through music. Though the lesson goes well, he realizes that Ayers is becoming attached to Lopez as Ayers has a chance to play a recital. Instead, it becomes a disaster due to Ayers’ mental illness as Steve blames himself for what happens. Even as he felt that Ayers is helping him with his own issues.

The film is about a journalist’s unexpected friendship with a mentally-ill musician that ends up helping both of them. While it’s an interesting yet captivating story, the problem is that the screenplay tends to over-dramatize the relationship between Lopez and Ayers while there’s additional elements in the screenplay that doesn’t really belong in the film. There’s also an underdeveloped storyline about Lopez’s own relationship with ex-wife Mary though the truth is that Steve Lopez never got divorced. Some of the dramatic liberties that screenwriter Susannah Grant take with the story to makes the film lose focus on what it’s supposed to be about. Even as Grant adds a bit of heavy-handed ideas about the issue with the homeless, though its intentions are thoughtful, as well as a character that spouses religious ideals.

Joe Wright’s direction definitely has a lot of flourishes that he’s known in tracking shots, wonderful zooms, and lots of amazing ideas. The problem is that he is given an uneven script that doesn’t play to his strengths. While he creates some wonderful sequences where Lopez just plays the music, some of it becomes quite unnecessary as there’s a scene where birds (ala CGI) fly around Los Angeles that really overdoes the dramatic tone of the music.

At the same time, he also has to shoot scenes involving the homeless where while it’s interesting and does provide insight into that world. It becomes a distraction as if he wants to make something about the homeless situation in Los Angeles when really, the film should be about these two men. Despite some interesting sequences and some chances to not over-dramatize events, Wright stumbles with his approach for this film.

Cinematographer Seamus Garvey does some excellent work with the photography in bringing some wonderful yet gorgeous shots of the nighttime exterior scenes of Skid Row Los Angeles. While there’s some great shots of Los Angeles in other places. Garvey’s work is definitely a highlight though it’s nothing really new in comparison to other films shot in L.A. Editor Paul Tothill does a good job with the editing that includes some wonderful rhythmic cuts that plays to the music despite some pacing issues that slows the film down at times.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood, with set decorator Julie Smith and art director Greg Berry do a nice job with the look of the L.A. Times office as well as Lopez‘s home and the apartment that Ayers eventually lives in. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does a fine job with the costumes in creating casual clothing for most of the cast including the look for Ayers with his cap and such that is pretty unusual but fun to look at.

Visual effects supervisor John Moffatt does some exceptional work for a sequence where it‘s just lights and swirling visuals that play along to the music though the sequences of the birds flying around Los Angeles isn‘t one of those great moments. Sound designers Craig Berkey and Christopher Scarabosio do some wonderful work with the sound to create a chaotic atmosphere for Los Angeles though some scenes where Ayers hears voices in his head gets a little repetitive and overdone at times.

Music composer Dario Marianelli creates an amazing film score that plays up to not just the dramatic elements of the film but also something that infuses Ayers’ gift as a musician. Along with pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig Van Beethoven that helps drive the soundtrack as Beethoven is the most dominant piece of music in the film. Along with cuts by Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, the Temptations, the Carter Family, and Beenie Man that all appear in the background. The film’s music and soundtrack is definitely the real highlight of the film.

The casting by Francine Maisler is pretty good for some notable appearances that include Stephen Root and Rachael Harris as fellow journalists of the L.A. Times, Justin Martin as the young Nathaniel Ayers in the flashback scenes about his early life, Lorraine Toussaint as Nathaniel’s mother, and in a cameo appearance, Jena Malone as a Goth-like lab technician. Nelsan Ellis is very good as the homeless shelter doctor who offers Steve Lopez guidance about dealing with Ayers’ illness. Lisa Gay Hamilton is also good as Nathaniel’s sister who is desperate to want to contact him a wonderfully understated scene with Jamie Foxx. Tom Hollander is excellent as Gary Claydon, a musician who tries to help Ayers though approaches it the wrong way.

Catherine Keener is pretty good as Mary Weston, Lopez’s ex-wife and editor, who is a bit baffled by her ex-husband’s fascination with Ayers though her character seems underdeveloped due to the fact that there’s not much more about her life with Lopez. Even as Keener has a very embarrassing scene where she gets drunk at a gathering with Lopez. Jamie Foxx is wonderful as Nathaniel Ayers as Foxx doesn’t go into a sense of vanity into playing a troubled man who refuses to believe he’s schizophrenic. Even as Foxx proves to be a wonderful musician while making some fascinating ramblings and such as he has great rapport with Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. is superb as Steve Lopez, a brilliant but complicated journalist seeking some sort of idea to get his hazy life back on track. While Downey brings some humor to his character, he also adds a lot of dramatic weight to a man who is fascinated by this individual he encounters. It’s a remarkable performance from Downey in the way he brings sympathy to a guy like Lopez.

Despite an amazing cast and a stellar soundtrack, The Soloist is a middle-of-the-road drama that got some great ideas but poor execution in its screenplay and in Joe Wright’s direction. While it wants to be an inspirational story of sorts, it’s coddled up with lots of bad decisions about Ayers’ illness along with some dramatic liberties about Lopez’s own life. Though Joe Wright does display some nice sequences that keep the film from being a total disaster, he’s hampered by the shortcomings of Susannah Grant’s screenplay. In the end despite the superb performances of Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, The Soloist is a disappointing film from Joe Wright.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Atonement - Hanna - Anna Karenina

© thevoid99 2011