Plot: What’s it about?
Angel Norton (Shannen Doherty) is on the fast track to a great life, as she is popular, has a sharp mind, and just has a very bright future ahead of her. She is a little naive perhaps, but she leads a good life and stays on the right side of things, without fail. But when she meets a certain boy, all that goes out the window and no one could predict where Angel could end up, but chances are, it would be much different than before. The man she meets is Tony (Antonio Sabato Jr.), a leather clad motorcycle riding bad boy, with a killer reputation to match his bad attitude. As soon as these two hook up, Angel starts to take a turn for the worse and unless she is able to break away from him, her life could be flushed down the tubes. After an incident with some stolen jewelry puts Tony behind bars, it looks like the relationship could be over, but of course, he manages to escape and wants to reclaim Angel as his own. Will she fall back under his charms and revert to this new lifestyle, or will she regain her senses and refuse to throw her life away?
This made for television picture has some name talent involved and a decent premise, but it fails to fulfill the potential involved. The story is a good one, but it never strays off the beaten path, save a couple of nice character swerves. Even so, it is too little too late with Jailbreakers, which I found to be a disappointment in all respects. You’d think having veteran director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) on deck would be enough to push a decent flick, but he seems powerless to steer this one down the right paths, even for the length of a single scene. The film has an off balance feel to it at all times, as if a ton of last second editing work was done, as there’s minimal flow present, which is a vital cinematic ingredient. I’ll never miss a Shannen Doherty performance, but aside from her (weak) presence here, there’s no real reason to pick up Jailbreakers. I suppose Dimension understands that also, since this disc has no extras whatsoever and features a high price, making this a rental first & foremost.
I admit that it is fun to think of Shannen Doherty as a high school cheerleader, but she’s not given much to work with here, so the potential is wasted. I don’t mean to claim that she has immense talent, but I think her sharp persona could have added a lot to this role, if it wasn’t held back by this anemic writing & direction. This ends up being a less than average performance, due to Doherty’s own lack of skills and the weakness of the material involved. It would have been better to let her go with some attitude, but that wasn’t the case and as a result, I think Jailbreakers suffers, as that might have picked this one up a little. Other films with Doherty include Mallrats, Almost Dead, Satan’s School For Girls, and Heathers. The cast also includes Antonio Sabato Jr. (The Big Hit, The Base II), Adrien Brody (Summer of Sam, Bread and Roses), Julie St. Clare (Extreme Limits, Sid and Nancy), and Sean Whalen (Never Been Kissed, Python).
Video: How does it look?
Jailbreakers is presented in a full frame transfer, as intended. Although the image here is watchable, it never moves above decent and often dips below the basic watermarks, especially in the darker sequences. These scenes look overly dark and soft, so detail is lessened and as a result, much of the visual impact is lost. The other scenes look solid enough, but those darker ones force me to lower the score, without a doubt. So don’t expect an unbearable visual transfer here, but then again, don’t expect a very good one either.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included stereo surround option is pretty much as expected, rather basic and limited, but adequate. I do wish some scenes were a little more dynamic, but all things considered, the material is well handled by this track. The music and sound effects come through well, but never show much range, though the material never demands it, so I can’t complain too much. No issues with dialogue however, as vocals remain clean, crisp, and at a proper volume balanced from start to finish, a more than solid audio treatment. This disc also includes English subtitles, in case you’ll need those to enhance the experience.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains no bonus materials.
