Director Ric Roman Waugh's tastes as a filmmaker have always leaned a very specific way. His films Felon, and the Dwayne Johnson-led Snitch have dealt with innocent men waylaid by the justice and law enforcement system. And that again applies to his latest effort, Shot Caller, which packs an impressive cast for a story that will sound pretty familiar.
Game of Thrones' Nicolaj Coster-Waldau plays a family man thrown behind bars after an accident, only to become a hardened gangster while locked away. It's like an entire season of Oz wrapped up into one little movie. Lake Bell, Jon Bernthal, Emory Cohen, Omari Hardwick, Jeffrey Donovan, Evan Jones, Benjamin Bratt, and Holt McCallany co-star. Here's a more through synopsis:
Jacob Harlon is a successful businessman with a loving family when the car he is driving post-celebratory drinks crashes, killing a passenger. After arriving at a maximum security prison he is quickly swept up by the violent rites of passage that seem to be the only way to navigate the brutality of the environment. Hardened by his new reality, he transforms into Money, a stoic gangster whose strength and intelligence make him an asset to his gang even beyond the prison walls. Following his release, Money is tailed by the police and threats from his incarcerated friends make him feel obligated to pull off one last crime.
Shot Caller will make its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival this month, then DirecTV will run it exclusively beginning July 20th until a theatrical run begins August 17th.
