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Prison Song

Play trailer Poster for Prison Song R 2001 1h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Life has dealt Elijah (Q-Tip) a tough hand. His stepfather is sent to prison, and his mother (Mary J. Blige) becomes institutionalized. Elijah spends time in foster homes, but his talent for photography leads to a college scholarship offer. Soon, however, events spiral out of hand, and Elijah finds himself behind bars for accidentally killing a man (Fat Joe) during a fight. Assisted by his understanding lawyer (Elvis Costello), Elijah fights for his dignity and for prison reform.

Critics Reviews

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David Nusair Apollo Guide 02/25/2003
20/100
Desperately wants to be some kind of a cautionary tale for urban youths, but is instead a preachy and inane waste of time. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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08/28/2020 Possibly the most depressing urban jail film of the 2000s. Makes Monster Ball look like Monster Inc See more 01/15/2019 Fat joe is the life of the movie See more 01/10/2014 this movie is good when he got shot I was like wtf this movie was very sad See more 07/29/2012 I LOVED IT!! I CRIED SOOO MUCH!! See more 04/05/2012 This movie is my favorite movie of all time, I could watch this movie 100 times and still love it....great movie See more 03/24/2012 I love this movie its ma number 1 movie I love mary j blige.... See more Read all reviews
Prison Song

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Movie Info

Synopsis Life has dealt Elijah (Q-Tip) a tough hand. His stepfather is sent to prison, and his mother (Mary J. Blige) becomes institutionalized. Elijah spends time in foster homes, but his talent for photography leads to a college scholarship offer. Soon, however, events spiral out of hand, and Elijah finds himself behind bars for accidentally killing a man (Fat Joe) during a fight. Assisted by his understanding lawyer (Elvis Costello), Elijah fights for his dignity and for prison reform.
Director
Darnell Martin
Producer
Richard Guay, Brad Epstein, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal
Screenwriter
Darnell Martin, Q-Tip
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema
Rating
R (Brief Sexual Content|Violence|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 27, 2001, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2018
Runtime
1h 40m