What would you do for your family? Where would you draw the line? Would you take another life? Would you grab the lowest hanging fruit for your own and your families safety? These are just some of the social questions that Shot Caller asks the viewer, and as a husband and father, I found my thoughts terrifying.

The film opens on the day of Jacob “Money”’s release from prison, formerly a successful stock broker turned con, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones, Black Hawk Down). He writes a heartbreaking letter to his son, stating this will be his last. You can easily tell from the opening moments, that Jacob is not a man to cross. During his bus ride to the city, the film shows us how he got to this point.

Prior to his incarceration, Jacob had it all; a wife, a child, and a great career. While out with his friends and wife, he has a few too many to drink and causes a fatal car crash. After consulting with his council, he is offered a deal which would take his sentence down from a number of years to several months with good behavior. Against the wishes of his wife, he takes the deal, but is housed with other violent offenders due to the nature of his crime. His lawyer also informs him that the other inmates will test him, and he should not back down, or he’ll likely not make it out alive. This leads to an altercation with another inmate that puts him in the sights of a white supremacist gang.

He is then coerced into their association in exchange for protection by Bottles, played by Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) and Shotgun, played by Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Daredevil). At first, he is simply smuggling drugs and contraband in his rectum, but soon escalates to murder and participating in riots. These actions quickly add time to his sentence, as well as raise him through the ranks of the gang.

Shot Caller continues to switch between its past and current settings seamlessly. While requiring the viewers’ full attention, it’s not hard to follow thanks to the excellent writing and direction by Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch, Felon). Waugh used every second of the film’s two hour run time wisely. The direction, keeping the viewer in the dark with a number of questions that are answered through flashbacks is extremely powerful in keeping the viewer engaged. Normally, my wife barely looks up from her phone while watching a movie; this is the first time in a year she hasn’t picked it up throughout the duration of it.

Back in the present day, Jacob meets with Shotgun (also released) and Howie, played by Emory Cohen (The Place Beyond the Pines), who serves as his underling overseeing a major gun deal for the gang. After a short introduction, the group heads to a party celebrating Jacob’s release. After a drive by shooting causes the party to end abruptly, you can tell not everyone is happy this deal is happening.

The remainder of the film follows Jacob and the supporting characters through the days following his release and leading up to the deal. Without giving too much away, it delves deeply into the questions I mentioned earlier, as well as questioning the common stigma that the U.S. correctional system is nothing but a revolving door. That the prisons can transform someone who simply made a mistake into a psychopath, doing little to actually rehabilitate the inmate and releasing a man into the general population worse off than when he went in. Additionally, Shot Caller touches on some themes of military personnel not having many options once they are brought home from foreign lands.

With the exception of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s native Dutch accent coming and going in a few places throughout the movie, the acting is exceptional. Waldau excels as Jacob, showing an amazing transformation that rivaled Bryan Cranston’s as Walter White. Not only did I feel sympathetic to his plight, I easily identified with the character. If I was put in the same situation, I can’t say I would have made different decisions to protect the ones that I love.

Additionally, Holt McCallany (Alien 3, Fight Club) steals every scene he is in as The Beast; he is the leader of the gang. The Beast is equal parts intelligence and intimidation and comes across as the most terrifying criminal element in this feature, or recent history. The only performance I found to be lacking was Lake Bell (How I Met Your Mother), who plays Jacob’s wife Beth. While not featured prominently in the film, her stance from concerned wife to bitter ex feels forced and out of place, considering Jacob clearly holds feelings for her, even after his 10 year absence.

With current events that are erupting in the U.S., I can see where this movie may receive some backlash due to the content. I feel like if you skip this movie because of these events, you will be missing out on an amazing character study and experience. Shot Caller is not only an amazing movie; it offers a look into social issues that are often not touched on by other films where the criminals are villainized or glorified. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s Jacob feels like what we all are: human.

9 out of 10

Pros

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Holt McCallany
• Compelling Social Themes
• Engaging Story

Cons

• Lake Bell
• Some Inconsistencies with Accents

Shot Caller was written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh. It was released in theaters on August 18, 2017. The film was not provided to us for viewing.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth your time, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great movie that you can feel confident about paying money to see in theaters or at home. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate movies, please let us know.

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