Lockdown (2000)

Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.

Director:

John Luessenhop

Writer:

Preston A. Whitmore II

Stars:

Richard T. Jones, De'aundre Bonds, Gabriel Casseus

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard T. Jones	...	Avery Montgomery
Gabriel Casseus	...	Cashmere
De'aundre Bonds	...	Dre
Master P	...	Clean Up
Melissa De Sousa	...	Krista
Bill Nunn	...	Charles
Clifton Powell	...	Malachi Young
Sticky Fingaz	...	Broadway
David 'Shark' Fralick	...	Graffiti (as David Shark Fralick)
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Saunders
Chrystale Wilson	...	Dana
Paulette Braxton	...	Marisa
Mike Butters	...	Barkley
Joe Torry	...	Alize
Mary Evans	...	Anderson

Storyline

Avery had to drop out of college to support his girlfriend Krista and their son Jordan, but he saved his money and is eager to get back in the game. He has returned to the swim meet circuit and is now having the time of his life. One night, after winning a race, he is approached by a college scout. Thrilled, he goes out with his friends Dre and Cashmere to celebrate. A gun used in a drive-by shooting somehow finds its way into Cashmere's car. The cops arrive, and soon the trio land in jail. Cashmere has an easier time adapting to penitentiary life than Dre and Avery, who are more unfamiliar with the gang life that pervades the environment. Avery clings to Krista and Jordan as reasons to hold on, but there is only one man who can, and will, fight on his behalf - Charles, his swimming scout, who believes in his innocence without question. Regardless of the outcome, Avery must learn to hold on to his ideals after the brutality he has witnessed.

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Plot Keywords:

swimmer | prison | male friendship | african american | black american | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal violence including sexual assaults, a strong scene of sexuality, pervasive language and graphic drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

A fogoly

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$200,000, 16 February 2003

Gross USA:

$449,482

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$449,482

Company Credits

Production Co:

Evolution Entertainment, No Limit Films, Palm Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2001, less than a year after the film's release, De'Aundre Bonds was convicted in real life for exactly the same crime as his character - manslaughter, due to an altercation where Bonds had killed his aunt's boyfriend. Bonds served a ten year sentence at the California Rehabilitation Center Norco and was released in 2011.

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Goofs

During the final fight, the stab wound in Ruckus' back disappears and reappears between shots.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits have the following excerpt: "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me... ...they only see my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me." Ralph Ellison Invisible Man

User Reviews

Very good prison movie

I've always felt "Escape from Alcatraz" starring Mister Eastwood was the best PM ever made but this one is just as good though a much different story. Some black dudes in their early 20s are convicted of a crime even though only one of them did anything wrong. Anyway, they get sent up for 10 years or so and the movie follows their experiences. Lots of fighting and action and, bless his soul, the director allows no talk unless it pertains to the action. Solid ending.

Lots of anti-white racism in the movie. The guards are all white and they are bastards and the white inmates are monsters. Graffiti, played by David Fralick, is really bad. Good-looking, super-fit guy and vicious as they come.

Needless to say, the movie portrays prison life as ultra-violent but that's just Hollywood for you. It makes for a good movie but prison is mostly about boredom not violence. Hell - you've got guards and cameras everywhere; you can't get away with much in prison and real convicts know it.