The Experiment

Plot: 26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHlIlo6Txpk

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVLHKmJWE4E

Starring: Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist & Predators), Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland & Repo Men), Cam Gigandet (Burlesque & Pandorum), Emmy nominee Clifton Collins Jr. ("Theif"(Mini-series) & Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Oscar winner Fisher Stevens (The Cove & Fake), Maggie Grace (Knight and Day & Malice in Wonderland).

Written by: director ("Prison Break") based on the novel "Black Box" & the film "Das Experiment"

Directed by: Paul Scheuring (36K)

Review: Harrowing study of human nature. Films like these scare me more than horror films because they're based on truth. An experiment like the one in this movie really happened. Best described by Collins Jr's character, "Put monkeys in a cage and watch what they do." It raises so many questions about our prison system and social identity. What these people do to each other is sadistic and unfortunately, human. My only issues with this movie were with a few unanswered questions about why they picked test subjects and how they placed them in their roles of either prisoner or guard. It also seemed to wrap up very quickly at the end with, again, a few unanswered questions. It seemed a bit unresolved. I would've liked to have seen at least a few captions at the end of film explaining what happened to the subjects, how they were affected by the experiment, and who the company doing the experiment was. Fantastic acting, good character development, I rooted for the protagonist, a really interesting premise, and a satisfying payoff that kept me thinking about it. All of this data leads me, as an expert movie maven, to conclude that this was a very good movie, despite a few flaws.

Fun Facts: Elijah Wood was originally cast, but bowed out after only a few days of shooting. This movie is a remake of a movie based on a book that was inspired by the real-life Stanford prison experiment.

Rating:

Writing-B

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-B

Cinematography-B

Editing-A

Hair-A

Makeup-A

Costumes-B

Art Direction-A

"Noteworthy"-good solid film