Shot Caller

"Waugh forgoes cheap action-movie gimmicks, offering up instead a haunting psychological portrait of an intelligent man forced to completely reinvent himself before he can even dream of seeking redemption for his previous sins."

""Shot Caller" effectively conveys the vise grip of Jacob's options, but that doesn't make it less ludicrous from scene to scene."

"Despite its unabashed fondness for clichés and tired tropes, “Shot Caller” mostly succeeds in its aims because of Waugh’s sober, matter-of-fact approach to the material."

"It always feels like an exercise instead of an examination, a flow chart of bad decisions and explosive violence that may not glorify the poisonous nature of hard time but rarely skims below the surface of what it means to break bad."

"Coster-Waldau ... conveys a strong masculine presence in both sections of the film, and it is fascinating to watch his transformation from privileged family man to hardened con."

"A respectable workhorse, committed to its ethos, ruggedly constructed, and well-acted…"