After he attempted to rape Lionel, the next scene shows Riley and Max working together in the pig sty. I thought Riley handed out the jobs? Why would he be doing that kind of work? Unless it's supposed to be implied that because he beat up another inmate he got his power removed from him?
shareYou're right, that's not really made clear. I guess it's possible that Riley was being punished for beating up another inmate, but he seemed quite chummy with the guards so you'd think they'd favor him rather than a new inmate. And who knew he beat up Francis anyway? No witnesses so why would the guards even believe it if they were told? And let's say they did, then why wasn't Max's sentence lengthened for beating up Riley? Right after he does, we see him and Francis being released. Great film though.
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I initially thought they were released right away, but if you look at how injured Lionel's face and eye were, they stayed long enough for those to heal, which would be a few months.
My guess as to Riley getting the pig farm job was that the beating of Lionel was so savage for an "Honor Farm," that it had to be investigated. This wasn't Corcoran or Pelican Bay, so real violence probably wasn't the norm there.
I found this troubling too. It's true that, in a more cynical/realistic film, Riley would be protected by his cronies and get away with it, while Max (and perhaps Lion too) would have his sentence extended for bad behaviour.
shareMay be that Riley messed up all the time and they punish him softly?
When Lion and Max are released, Lion has already healed. Some time must have passed and they were there for only a month.
I was always unclear as to why Lion was jailed alongside Max, in the first place?
Max obviously started the fight in the previous scene, and also struck the cop. Lion seems to be trying to stop Max, but is otherwise lingering with the crowd. Why would he be arrested and sent to a work farm? Unless I missed something...
Strict state laws? Something about loitering or vagrancy, perhaps?
"Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see."
Well, sometimes bad writers alter the facts to suit the plot instead of the other way around. This wasn't a bad script, but the screenwriter had to create an unrealistic situation to get these two together for the "revenge fight" the plot demanded so the truth and the facts had to bend a bit.
I thought the ending of the film and Lion's catatonia also demonstrated lazy writing. You can almost hear the author thinking, "Well OK, I've sort of written this Lion fellow into a corner. He's gone crazy and I don't really want to see that for the rest of the film. Now what do I do with him?" It reminded me a lot of the soap operas of the '50's and '60's where amnesia was a convenient out when the director didn't know how to explain an actor's disappearance and later reappearance.
How often have you known anyone to develop catatonia or amnesia in real life? Probably never, other than with Alzheimer's or a stroke which is something entirely different.
But what the hell. It happens all the time in film because we need action and resolution. Who wants to see a movie where, like in real life, almost nothing important happens?
Yeah, you're right, but you're probably talking blasphemy among this crowd. I liked the movie, but the end seemed like they just ran out of film and decided not to bother getting any more.
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I also think the Catholic tie in was lazy writing. Besides a nun anecdote by Lion there is no real hint to religion until they hit Detroit where he visits a church before calling his ex who in turn lays on the Catholic guilt.
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