Murder in the First - 8 stars out of 10

Murder in the First - 8 stars out of 10

"Murder in the First" is an intresting courtroom drama that will prey on your emotions through graphic portrayals of prison life (and its effects) and appease your movie critic side through its fine acting.  The tone is set with the opening solitary sequence, which is brutal, and continues its dark imagery from start to finish.  Although the film deviates from what actually happened (and is barely a true story once the screenwriters finished rewriting history), as a fictional work this story is wonderful.  The true draw for this film is its raw, realistic acting.  I often demean Kevin Bacon for his lack of acting skill, but his portrayal of the almost animalistic Henri Young is quite impressive.  Each of the sides of the personality that he portrays - the tortured, innocent man and the fragile, traumatized victim - are so upsetting that he's difficult to watch at times.  I didn't care for Christian Slater in the lead role (and would've preffered to see someone like Kevin Costner), but Gary Oldman was wonderfully evil and bordered on being sadistic.  My ears perk up every time that I see William H. Macy's name during the opening credits of a film and he was great in this character role, but I was less than impressed with R. Lee Ermey as the judge.  Unless you are a historian looking for accuracy, I think that anybody will value this haunting tale from Alcatraz (unless you have a weak stomach).