Jamaa Fanaka's raw and violent indictment of prison life is a masterpiece of Urban Cinema and was the most successful independent film of 1980. A potent combination of 'blaxpoitation prison film and social commentary Penitentiary busted genres and galvanised audiences from the art houses to the inner city becoming the cornerstone of urban independent film for generations to come Martel Gordone ( Leon Isaac Kennedy) is a Hitchhiker who gets into a fight with a pair of bikers over a prostitute. One of the biker dies and Martel finds himself in prison with the moniker ' too sweet' because of his love of candy bars. Soon he is a hardened but pragmatic inmate who joins the prison boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole. Standing in his path however is 'Half Dead Johnson' a member of the prison's most violent gang.
After 40-odd years Vinnie (Peter Falk) has a decent life. He and his wife Ellen (Tyne Daly) finally have some time together and his bar in South Boston is a second home for the neighborhood men. The guys drink up front and place bets in the back room. And when somebody local is down on their luck Vinnie can be counted on to strike a fair deal. Vinnie knows that Frankie (Timothy Hutton) is blowing paychecks on the numbers and driving away his wife (Lauren Holly) but Vinnie is a reasonable man. He respects the business associates who keep interests in his backroom operation and they in turn don't pressure him. That is until Pete from the Italian partnership sends over his itchy arogant nephew Tony (Freddie Prinze Jr.). Vinnie thinks that he has endured worse. All it takes is one small choice - an uncle looking for a member of his family or a bookie looking the other way - for an entire world to change...
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