prison movies

I just posted a comment over at MooCow's blog in regards to The Shawshank Redemption. And then I continued to rant about prison movies. So for everyone's reading pleasure, here's my take on prison movies, because they are all the same. They're like a subdivision of 'male quest movies', which I may or may not elaborate on later if I'm bored. (College Gender & Film class was so useful!)


There are so many prison movies they could be their own genre. Want to write one of your own? Here's the recipe:

Basic Plot:
Guy on the inside is either innocent or being treated much worse than is acceptable for his crime.

Characters: (all male, I have yet to see a prison movie starring women)
Bad prison guy our hero must defeat.
The lifer- the loner old guy that knows everything and has everything rigged.
The evil warden.
The evil guards.
The one sympathetic guard.
Optional - the newbie young guy that our hero befriends and teaches how to survive on "the inside".

Resolution: The Grand Escape of our hero (escape can be a break out or can be his defeat of evil wardens, or a transfer, or a reduced sentence, or any combination).

So, what are you waiting for? Everyone get crackin' on their prison movie scripts. Don't forget to mix some action in with your touching drama!