Prison films have long been a fixture of cinema, and the tried-and-true formula has resulted in some legendary films. Something about individuals being at their lowest point ups the drama to a fever pitch. In Bosco, director Nicholas Manuel Pino takes the traditions of the popular subgenre and mixes them with a modern sensibility to expose issues inherent in the American criminal justice system. Is it a success? Or is Pino beholden to the clichés of yesterday?
The answer is yes…to both. There is comfort in knowing where a film’s narrative is heading, and there are certainly no surprises to be found in Bosco, but the film remains enjoyable throughout. We follow the titular character Quawntay “Bosco” Adams (Aubrey Joseph) as he serves an excruciatingly long sentence in the penitentiary for marijuana possession. Brief flashbacks from his youth fill the audience in on his familial issues with his father, Tootie (Tyrese Gibson), and his mother, Willa (Vivica A. Fox), and the travails of growing up as an underserved black youth in Compton.
“…excruciatingly long sentence in the penitentiary…”
His life in prison is spent under the boot of hard-drinking corrections officer Hunt (Thomas Jane) and his equally sinister sycophant Ramos, played by Theo Rossi. Cartoonishly sadistic, Hunt manipulates Bosco and other prisoners in the hopes that they will make a poor decision that will ruin their chances of getting out of prison. Carefully avoiding his wrath, Bosco spends the majority of the film plotting his escape with the help of Tammy (Nikki Blonsky), a lonely woman he meets through phone calls to the outside.
Pino does an excellent job of bringing viewers into the rhythms of life on the inside. In this way, the film isn’t dissimilar from Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped. However, hip-hop aesthetics and a dab of hypermasculinity (large biceps and washboard abs abound) stand in place of an isolated soundtrack and austere pacing. Some may feel their attention drift because of how much time we spend in Bosco’s dreary cell. Still, events eventually come to a head, and a sense of finality is eventually reached after a long middle section.
Aubrey Joseph approaches the role with aplomb, but there’s an over-reliance on narration in place of character interactions, which tends to minimize the time we get with some underdeveloped characters. Thomas Jane is as mean as can be, but some added nuance would have worked wonders for making Hunt a more interesting heavy. Tammy could have also done with some more fleshing out, so she stands out as something more than an accessory. Still, it’s hard not to have a great time with Bosco, especially for those who love hip-hop and the killer tracks that accompany the film. Prison films are an underrated genre, and Pino’s film is a more than worthy addition to the great family of films that take place behind bars.
"…it’s hard not to have a great time with Bosco..."
