Lock Up (1989)
6/10
Shallow, Flawed but Entertaining
8 February 2015
The mechanic Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone) is a model inmate in a low security prison and has only six months to serve. He intends to spend the rest of his life working in his garage and with his beloved girlfriend Melissa (Darlanne Fluegel). Out of the blue, Leone is brutally transferred during the night to the maximum security Gateway Prison without any explanation. Soon he learns that Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland) is the responsible for his transference.

Leone had been sentenced to Treadmore Prison after beating the punks that hit his mentor and friend that taught him his profession of auto mechanic. When his mentor was dying, he asked permission to Drumgoole to go to visit his friend but the request was denied. Leone fled from Treadmore and his lawyer went to the press to expose Drumgoole's behavior. The result was Leone in a minimum security prison and Drumgoole sent to Gateway. Now the warden is seeking revenge and will do anything to keep Leone behind bars.

"Lock up" is an entertaining prison drama full of action with Sylvester Stallone after the successful Rambo trilogy. The story is flawed and shallow, and the viewer shall not think how a prisoner is transferred the way Frank Leone is and his lawyer simply does not exist in the story. The characters are not well developed and there is no explanation for the sadistic behavior of the prison guards. However this type of movie is not to think and entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Condenação Brutal" ("Brutal Conviction")
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