Animal (2004)

Editor's Note Ving Rhames (PULP FICTION) stars as convict James "Animal" Allen in this pulse-racing drama. Although he entered prison with a fearsome reputation, Allen left it a changed man. While behind bars, he met Berwell (Jim Brown), a black revolutionary who managed to cause a seismic shift in the world-view of the hard-bitten criminal. But in the outside world, Allen's son has followed in his miscreant father's footsteps, and has garnered a reputation on the crime-strewn streets of his neighborhood that is comparable to Allen's own. Desperate to deter his son from continuing down this rocky path, Allen tries schooling him in Berwell's ways, but faces a tough task as the impressionable youngster has a difficult time accepting the lifestyle change his father is now preaching to him.

	Chazz Palminteri
	Jim Brown
	Terrence Dashon Howard
	Ving Rhames
	Bonita Huffman - Production Designer
	David C. Johnson - Writer
	David J. Burke - Director
	Erik C. Andersen - Editor
	Kip Konwiser - Producer
	P.J. Lopez - Cinematographer
	Ving Rhames, et. al. - Executive Producer

Variety.com 8 of 10
Prison redemption offers the framework for exec producer-star Ving Rhames' delicious evolution from primitive, sociopathic gangsta who blows people away, then sniffs the smell of death on his fingers, to purposeful citizen. Helmer David J. Burke and scripter David C. Johnson have fashioned a streetwise moral tale whose message pales before the spectacle of Rhames' mental and physical transformations. A strong, bespectacled Jim Brown is on hand as the prison's resident revolutionary, fighting for Rhames' soul against sadistic prison boss Chazz Palminteri. But words speak louder than action in a stolid character-driven pic best suited to homevid markets. - Ronnie Scheib