''Con Games'' is a 2001 American direct to video

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

written and directed by Jefferson Edward Donald, starring Tommy Lee Thomas,

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

Martin Kove Martin Kove () (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Kreese, the main antagonist of ''The Karate Kid'' (1984). He reprised the role in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''The Karate Kid Part III'' (1989), and the ...

Amy Fadhli Amy Fadhli (born January 30, 1965) is an American fitness model, actress and winner of the ''Fitness America National Champion 1996''. Her father is Iraqi who was born in Baghdad, a cardiovascular surgeon, and her mother is Czech, a sculptor and ...

, and the late Matthew Ansara.

Plot

A senator's grandson is murdered while incarcerated at California's notorious "Doscher State Prison", nicknamed "Dachau" by convicts for the number of unsolved murders of inmates that have taken place therein. Hired by the senator,

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

veteran John Woodrow (Tommy Lee Thomas) infiltrates the prison to find the murderer, and learns that the grandson was killed by corrupt head guard Lt. Hopkins (

). When Hopkins discovers Woodrow's true identity, he has him tortured by inmates and guards. After an arduous shooting chase through the desert, Woodrow escapes.

Cast

as Officer Hopkins * Tommy Lee Thomas as John Woodrow * Matthew Ansara as Saul *

as Ashley Stephenson *

Moe Irvin Maurice "Moe" Irvin is an American television and film actor best known for his role as List of characters from Grey's Anatomy#Medical Personnel, Nurse Tyler Christian in the television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. Aside from his recurri ...

as Eddie Long *

as Redick * Katherine Parks as Admin Assistant * Michael Durack as Frank Nelson * Dave Casper as Detective * Sheila Campbell as Jeanette * Patricia Bosse as Melanie Richards * Tiffany Brouwer as Britney Woodrow * Marc Chenail as Robinson * Bill Fishback as Goetz * Tony Harras as Warden Alvarez * John Adam Kraemer as Sid * Ross Nolan as McCain

Background

Principal filming began in May 2001. To prepare himself for the film, actor and co-screenwriter Tommy Lee Thomas trained for seven months prior to shooting in order to get in shape, and his sessions included training by Lou Ferrigno. Thomas acknowledges having studied "muscle magazines" and appearances in them, as well as competing in bodybuilding competitions. Thomas realized the advantage of getting a recognizable name for his film and was able to secure Eric Roberts. While Roberts did not have the "star power" he held in his earlier career, he still had enough so that Thomas was able to facilitate the film's release in the U.S. and overseas. Keaton Simonds was to sing the song for the film's end credits, but

sang the song instead after Simonds changed his mind.

Reception

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

'' praised both the film and its star, writing that the film was "a very entertaining B-level action film that was released in 2002 to barely any acknowledgement." They made note of the film's low production values and budget, and that the scenes depicting the prison itself reflected this in the small number of inmates and even fewer number of prison guards. They noted Tommy Lee Thomas as having co-written the screenplay, and wrote that he was "the fuel to this vehicle", that "clearly he studied a lot of Clint Eastwood films and he mastered the legendary star’s steely-eyed squint and sparse line deliveries," and that he "clearly possesses a sense of eccentric humor." They concluded "As low-budget action flicks go, this one is very diverting and highly watchable." '' Rovi'' panned the film, making note that the "men in prison"

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

genre is represented by the film as its "too-literal acting is right out of 1960s drive-in cinema". Referring to the film as a "train wreck of a feature", they noted it as an attempt by Tommy Lee Thomas to establish credentials as an actor. They noted the script being poorly developed by writing it is "unimaginably filled with hilarious lines", and the cinematography as poor when writing "the camera seems not to know where it wants to be in most scenes". Rovi also addresses the acting of

, writing that he "devours the scenery as if it were steak." They summarize by writing "The movie is a bomb. But, there's an endearing earnestness that overcomes the shoddy amateurism." They concluded that "Only the most undemanding of action fans are going to appreciate this one".

Release

The film had subsequent DVD releases. A re-release was made by

Third Millennium In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

on May 27, 2002, and a version with Spanish subtitles was released by MTI Home Video on July 23, 2002.

References

External links

''Con Games''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Con Games 2001 films American action drama films American prison drama films 2000s prison drama films Films set in California Films shot in California American independent films 2001 action drama films 2001 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language action drama films