review for Jailbait on AllMovie

Jailbait is a mildly interesting prison drama, hampered by its bare-bones production, which has the feeling of a filmed theatrical production. Michael Pitt and Stephen Adly-Guirgis are both capable actors, but Adly-Guirgis is not particularly well-suited physically to the domineering role of Jake. He might be more convincing if there were more believable detail to the prison that surrounds these two embattled men. The prison is unnaturally quiet, and Jake seems to have free reign to do whatever he wants to Randy (Pitt), whenever he wants to do it. And once the two main characters and the downward trajectory of the narrative are established, the movie becomes an unpleasant endurance exercise. Apart from the solid performances and the middling psychological depth of their exchanges, there's little to focus on but Jake's blunt abuse of his cellmate. This is very familiar material, having been explored in countless previous films, including more complex and interesting contemporary examinations of prison life in Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory and the television series Oz. There's an unfortunate element of pathetic fallacy in writer/director Brett C. Leonard's claustrophobic and airless plunge into the brutality of prison life.