Would you like to have a Cellmate in case of being a prisoner?
By Jenny Álvarez
Photo Cortesy
Set in 1970s Texas, Cellmates tells the story of hardened Ku Klux Klansman, Leroy Lowe (Tom Sizemore), who has risen through the ranks to be crowned ‘Grand Dragon’ of the State of Texas. Unfortunately for him, the government has started cracking down on the organization’s activities and it isn’t long before Leroy is sent to the Low Lee Tuna Prison Work Farm to serve time…harvesting potatoes. Worlds quickly collide when farm owner Warden Merville (Stacy Keach) forces Leroy to share a prison cell with eccentric Mexican field laborer Emilio Ortiz (Hector Jimenez) as part of his penitence. None too happy with the arrangement, Leroy sets out to make things very difficult for Emilio in the cramped quarters, but Emilio’s chatty disposition slowly chips away at Leroy’s gruff exterior. When an unlikely friendship develops, Leroy comes to realize how his ignorant past has distorted his view of the world, and what he must now do to make things right.
An offbeat comedy with heart, Cellmates is co-written, directed and produced by Jesse Baget. The film stars veteran actors Tom Sizemore and Stacy Keach; Mexican actors Hector Jimenez and Olga Segura; and a special appearance by comedic actor Kevin Farley. This movie is a comedy with satirical humor related to race relations in this country. But the real fun here comes from Stacy Keach as a warden who tries (and fails) to instill a mania for potato farming on his highly skeptical prisoners or when Leroy falls in love and his cellmate serves as the translator for an illicit exchange of love letters. This could easily have come off as far too silly, but in the context of the tone of the film — it all works very nicely. Definitely this movie will make you smile and fans of good movies will receive it with enthusiastic applause. This movie opens in limited release on June 1st.
