Stallone in a minor key. Promising much, much more than it delivers, director John Flynn's Lock Up is a rather desultory return to those late 80s, early 90s dark days of Stallone's career where nothing he made seemed to be clicking with critics or audiences. The glory year of 1985, where he bestrode the global box office like a colossus with energetic, enjoyable stinkeroos like Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV, had been by now supplanted in the late 80's with curiously leaden B-flick stinkeroos like Cobra, Over the Top, and Rambo III -- not to mention the absolute nadir of his career in the first few years of the 90's with outright junk like Rocky V (enough with the numbers, please), Oscar, and the worst film of his career: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. Granted, it wasn't like Stallone hadn't had misfires before 1985 (Staying Alive, Rhinestone and Paradise Alley are just a few hilarious examples), and better films were in the offing for him (Cliffhanger, Copland), but you could usually count on at least one good movie from him every once in awhile.

That's why Lock Up comes as a particularly disappointing misstep for Stallone. It certainly appeared to be a natural for him when it premiered back in 1989. The story is basic enough, and fit right in with the standard Stallone action plot: a simple, simple man is pushed too far, until he's put in an impossible situation where he must literally battle for his life to escape -- which of course he does, triumphantly. The behind-the-camera credits for Lock Up seemed unusually promising for Stallone, as well. Co-writer Jeb Stuart had previously penned action winners 48 Hours and Die Hard, and director John Flynn, one of my favorite craftsman/technician directors, had already helmed classic "B" films The Outfit, Rolling Thunder, and Best Seller. Combine that with the potential "high concept" exploitation explosion of Stallone In Prison, and Lock Up should have been a lock. Alas, Lock Up falls far short of its goals.

Stallone plays Frank Leone, an honest but tough garage mechanic who's finishing up a nickel spot in prison for assault (he went after the three punks who roughed up his guardian). On a weekend furlough, we see Frank and his girlfriend, Melissa (Darlanne Fluegel) enjoying some tender moments before he must return to prison to finish out the last three weeks of his sentence. But something goes disastrously wrong his first night back; a detail of tough guards, led by Captain Meissner (John Amos), arrive at Frank's relatively sedate prison, and forcibly remove him to forebiding Gateway Prison, "the worst s**thole in the system." There, he's met by Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), Frank's nemesis from his first stint in prison. Evidently (and believe me, you have to guess because the script isn't too clear on this point), Frank was the first person to ever escape from Drumgoole's prison (he evidently wanted to see his guardian one more time before he died?). And in his escape, he (perhaps?) uncovered some kind of corruption in Drumgoole's administration, with the result that Frank was sent to his current, nice prison (all the guards kid around with him when he comes back from his furlough), and Drumgoole was demoted to Gateway.

Evidently waiting for the last few weeks of Frank's sentence, Drumgoole somehow managed to pull some strings, and get Frank transferred to the dank, dark, evil Gateway. And now, he plans on torturing Frank, pushing him to his limits in the hopes that Frank will explode, and commit some infraction that will lengthen his stay at Gateway, so Drumgoole can continue to torture him for the rest of his life. Of course, as Frank hoarsely whispers, "You won't break me," and the fight is on. Once inside, Frank has to deal with the constant physical threats of Drumgoole's personal guard/goons named - I kid you not - Manly and Wiley (Jordan Lund and John Lilla), as well as massive, psychotic inmate/killer Chink Weber (Sonny Landham). Frank finds sympathetic aid from guard Braden (William Allen Young), as well as the impassive, but ultimately fair Captain Meissner.

In addition to the stock prison villains, Frank makes the requisite jailbird friends, as well, including squirrely Dallas (Tom Sizemore), who clues Frank in on a potential jailbreak scheme of his, Eclipse (Frank McRae), the auto genius who keeps a prized Ford Mustang under wraps in his shop, and First Base (Larry Romano), the punk kid who got a rotten break and who's doing a double all day (life sentence). Quickly becoming a symbol of resistence in the yard, Frank must balance the growing allegiance he feels towards his new friends, and his own self-interest in trying to keep his head down and do his time quietly - all the while resisting the intense pressure of Drumgoole's war of persecution.

It's a toss up as to what sinks Lock Up: cliches or a poorly constructed script. Criminally, Lock Up crams a ton of prison movie cliches into its long, long 115 minute running time - the only one missing was the old timer who keeps a strange pet, and who gives some sage advice to the hero. Now, cliches in "B" genre work are fine, actually; familiarity doesn't necessarily breed contempt if they're done with a modicum of energy and respect. But Lock Up just lays there, with a curiously dull, by-the-numbers approach to individual scenes that's surprising considering the skill of the director. There's no drive to the internal dramatics of each scene, and therefore, there's little or no suspense build-up over the protracted length of the film.

Lock Up's script fails to add up, as well, with plot holes and illogical passages piling up so fast that eventually, the anticipated fun of a grade "B" potboiler turns to somnambulant endurance on the part of the viewer. The entire backstory of Frank and Warden Drumgoole is barely alluded to, and yet, it's the pivotal point that the entire movie turns on. What, exactly, did Frank uncover that caused him to be moved to a nicer prison, and forced the powers that be to transfer Drumgoole to Gateway? Speaking of transfers, how did Drumgoole manage to get Frank transferred? If he's held in such low esteem by the prison officials, how does he have the pull to get the prisoner who's responsible for his career demotion, transferred to his own prison? And by the way, why doesn't Melissa get Frank's lawyer on it, and call the media, since it's apparent that Frank's and Drumgoole's previous encounter would have been news that the media covered? When Dallas goes over the old escape plan with Frank, Frank clearly explains why the plan is flawed, including the physical inability of anyone to climb two hundred yards of steam pipe without getting burned alive. But when the inevitable escape comes, that's precisely how Frank attempts to escape -with just a few "ouches" when he touches a hot pipe. How does Frank get to walk around the prison, looking for a job provided by Dallas, when those kind of jobs are assigned by the prison, not the prisoners? Isn't Drumgoole watching him, and keeping tabs on him? How does Eclipse manage to keep an entire Ford Mustang hidden in his shop, without any guard finding out, or any squealing con ratting him out? Why does Frank's girl Melissa trust Drumgoole enough to come for a conjugal visit, when she's already suspicious of Frank's illogical transfer? And it goes on and on in Lock Up, until the absurdities overwhelm the viewer's ability to laugh them off.

Lock Up has a wealth of good actors in its cast, but few, if any, get a break from the stupid script. Don't get me wrong; I think Stallone's an underrated actor who's often made the mistake of betting on marginal directors (that would include himself at the top of that list), as well as less-than-impressive material. Anyone who saw the original Rocky can attest to the fact that Stallone seemed like a fresh new actor with a promising future way back in 1976. And he's done standout work in a couple of films since then (Copland would, I imagine, be his next best role). But let's face it; action is his game. His strong, silent demeanor, his amusingly incoherent mumblings - along with his celebrated physique - uniquely qualify him as an action hero come to life. But he fails to rise to any acting challenge in Lock Up. He commits the sin that should never be committed in a Stallone film: he's safe and boring, with a distracted look that may suggest he knew he was starring in another stinker. He's not acting, and he's not camping it up as only Stallone could in the 80's, so what's the point here, then? Sutherland, an exceptional actor, sleepwalks through his role as Warden Drumgoole. Sporting an accent (Irish, maybe?) that comes but mostly goes, Sutherland really has nothing to do here except spout a few lame threats, and furrow his brow. He's clearly picking up a paycheck, and doing the absolute minimum to get through the whole mess. The supporting cast, while talented, have been give little help in the way of truthful dialogue or pertinent scenes, and they quickly fade from memory. There's a cheapjack look to the film, as well (perhaps most of the budget went to Stallone's legendary salary?), which indicates little care was taken in bringing Lock Up into the major leagues. Perhaps the producers and star of Lock Up felt it was enough to just throw Stallone in prison to satisfy his dwindling fan base. It didn't work. Far from a "white knuck ride to hell and back," as the DVD box states, Lock Up is a rather tame and familiar trip down the river, to a joint you've seen far too many times before.

The DVD:

The Video:
Lock Up is presented in a matted widescreen, 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which is a major improvement over the pan-and-scan video copy I remember seeing once. It actually looks better here, with solid blacks that hold, than when I saw it in the theaters.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 Surround audio track is unimpressive, frankly. Spanish subtitles are available, as are English close captions.

The Extras:
There's a six and half minute vintage behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of Lock Up included here, along with a similar three minute look specifically at Stallone and his role in the film. There are also text bios on the stars and the director, as well as some text background on the shooting of the film. The original theatrical trailer (that totally jacked me up to see this disappointment back in 1989) is also included.

Final Thoughts:
Hey, I'm a confirmed Stallone fan, and the prison picture is usually a safe genre bet when you want some escapist entertainment. But Lock Up fails to meet the expectations of either of these types of films. Stallone is subdued, and not very interesting here, and the cliches from other prison pictures are presented in a lugubrious, and often times, incoherent manner. If you're a Stallone fanatic, you may want to rent it, but for all others, Lock Up's parole from 80's oblivion is denied.