Customer Reviews
One of Bacon's Best Efforts - By: Jay, 23 Dec 2007 
Kevin Bacon(wild things) puts up an Oscar worthy performance as an abused occupant of The Alcatraz Prison. Christian Slater(true romance) also does well but is shadowed by Bacon & co star Gary Oldman(the scarlet letter).
The story is chilling & dark & Bacon portrays his character to perfection. Brad Dourif(urban legend, child's play) also stars as another shady character trying to put a stop to the Slater/Bacon appeal.
If there was one thing that the writers could have done to improve the story to appeal to a larger audience was, they could have made the story faster & smoother, to get rid of the inconsistency's. 'Murder In' is however, a great film with worthy performances by the whole cast.
a great movie - By: sean paul mccann, 01 Dec 2006 murderin the first is a great tale,possibly based on real life events,the film is handled brilliantly & hasnt quite had the acclaim it deserves due to the success of the shawshank redemption & if you liked that then you will like this as well,plain & simply.
The film tells the tale of henri young who is sent to alcatraz prison for stealing five dollars to feed himself & his sister,upon entry to the prison he is sent to solitary confinement for 3 years for trying to escape & becomes insane,upon return to normal prison kills the man who informed on the prison break,he is then tried for a murder on what is a clear cut case but young lawyer christian slater belives that henri is a victim of his surrounding,sterling & high charged stuff,worth your time.
Murder In The First - By: Rich Milligan, 29 Jan 2006 “Murderin the First” is one of those films that is based on a true story but the film makers cleverly don’t really reveal as to how factual their film is & I always end up questioning how much of the on-screen action is faithful to the reality & how much is dressed up for effect.
Henri Young is a young prisoner incarcerated on the infamous island prison of Alcatraz. Convicted of only stealing five dollars Henri makes an attempt to escape from the prison & is caughtin the process. His escapee comrade squeals to the authorities whilst Henri remains stoic, needless to say it doesn’t take the brains of an Archbishop to work out which one is put back on the wing & which one is putin solitary confinement.
For Henri solitary confinement would be enough of a punishment but instead of the maximum 19 days that any inmate should remain there he is forced to endure over three years of being cooped upin an airless, lightless cramped cell. Add to that the beatings & torture his endures at the hands of the warden Milton Glenn, it’s perhaps understandable that when Henri is finally released back into the mainstream prison his mental state is less than stable. At the first opportunity he has he takes revenge on the rat who squealed on his escape & ends up murdering himin the mess hall by stabbing his victim with a spoon.
James Stamphill is the young public defendant attorney who is given the unenviable task of defending Henri, a task that is made doubly hard by the fact the Henri is nearly 100% catatonic & won’t speak to people. With the authorities closing ranks on any wrongdoingsin the penal system & a client who won’t take, how will Stamphill put together a legitimate case to defend Henri?
The film is really made via two very well executed factors. Firstly the settings are extremely effective, being both moving & disturbing. Alcatraz is portrayed as the bleak foreboding rock that it is & the solitary cells are scarily depictedin all their frightening glory. The contrast with the urbane & civilised courtroom could be stronger & yet the goings onin this place of justice are staked against Henri & the cruel regime that has made him the killer he is.
Secondly the performances of the leads are quite excellent. Christian Slater is on the surface perhaps too young to play Stamphill & give the lawyer the authority he needs & yet is over eager exuberance & assurity of his position lets him get away with it. Gary Oldman is quite subdued for him & yet this cold & calculating Warden Glenn is a chillingly bad character & very effective. Finally the main plaudits must go to Kevin Bacon who’s portrayal of the pathetic Henri is superbin the sorry state of this broken man & yet is strangely uplifting.
There’s one final scene when Henri re-entered Alcatraz seemingly only for the purpose to hurl one final insult at Warden Glenn whilst the other inmates applaud the bravery of their fellow prisoner which is probably unnecessary & diminishes the final gravitas of the ending but the rest of the film is well worth the watch.
A forceful and emotionally moving picture. - By: , 02 Jan 2004 
Terrific true story about the trial that brought down Alcatraz. It tells the tale of Henry Young (Kevin Bacon), whose parents had died leaving him alone to look after his younger sister, then later wrongly imprisoned for murder & sent to alcatraz. Where he is tortured by the prison warden Mr.Glenn (Gary Oldman).
When his escape plan fails, he isthrown down a steel flight of stairs, beaten, his ankles were slashed condemning him to walk with a hobbnle for the rest of his life & then placedin solitary confinement for three years. Then when he is taken out of solitary confinement he kills the man who grassed on him & his life is put on trial. Taking his case to court is Christian Slater's young attorney, who turns the trial into an indictment of a repellent institution.
There are some memorable performances with Kevin bacon stealing the show. He gives a convincing performance as the young convict & made me realise what a fine & under-rated actor he is. Gary Oldman was great as always & did his sinister bad guy routine very well. But I felt Christian Slater's performance was a bit wooden & he only just scraped by.
This film was moving made me really feel for Henry Young. The only possible flaws being Christian Slater & at times it was ever so slightly cheesy. But overall I would say this was a great film by Marc Rocco. Forcefull stuff
It captures the horror and fear and turns it into brilliance - By: A. A. Mansfield, 29 May 2001 The stars are brilliant, the script is touching, the speeches are truely inspiring. This film is pure class. Anybody with a heart cannot refuse this movie as it is unique, well told meaningfull,everything that a typical movie lacks.
