Thursday, November 10, 2011

Stoic

(2008) ***

I had just about hit my limit of torture and depravity films when I found this one. Four cellmates, Mitch, Harry, Peter and Jack, get into a heated game of poker. Mitch loses a bet and refuses to make good on it. The bet being that he must eat an entire tube of toothpaste. His three cellmates force him to make good on the bet, they torment, beat and humiliate him, hold him down and force-feed the toothpaste to him. They continue tormenting him afterward, which quickly escalates to more beating and rape, resulting in Mitch becoming catatonic brought on as he is in shock from the trauma. They then try to convince Mitch to commit suicide so they will not get blamed for the assault. They wind up assisting him with his "suicide" to cover their asses, but an investigation brings forth the truth. The full story is revealed as the three surviving cellmates are interviewed regarding the incident.

I know that Uwe Boll has made a whole bunch of crap films, but I must give props when they are due. The acting in this is quite good, considering the content. The characters are very real, the emotion seemed genuine. The story itself is dismal, the cruelty is heart-wrenching. I am hanging up my hat on this one, I've had all the torment I can stand. No one wins in a story like this, including the viewer.