Furlough (2018)

Furlough: Directed by Laurie Collyer. With Melissa Leo, Tessa Thompson, Edgar Ramírez, Erik Griffin. When an inmate is granted one weekend out of prison to see her dying mother, a rookie correction officer struggles to keep her under control.

“A young, struggling part-time correctional officer gets the chance to become full-time by escorting a prisoner to her motheru0026#39;s deathbed. She is obviously supposed to learn something from the experience of trying to chaperone an unruly but older prisoner. Instead of a script that might let them learn or bond, instead itu0026#39;s a series of scenes with them simply sitting together as they travel.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately, it feels as if the plot gets elements added to it to make it difficult. Most of what occurs in the trip seems to happen for no good reason, except to create situations where the inmate can escape, at least temporarily? Why, for example, would they be forced to take a bus and then a train to the mother (but then quickly return via rental car)? Why does the phone of the officer constantly ring or receive texts? Why do romantic interests appear and disappear as if put on the screen like chess pieces?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn short, I wanted to like this movie but it seems a mess, and I kept wondering how much Whoopie Goldberg and Anna Paquin were paid for what must have been 2 days of shooting each (if that). The humour really doesnu0026#39;t work – painfully so. The script is dull at best, and the tone is sometimes too mournful for itu0026#39;s own good. If you are a fan of Orange is the New Black, any episode youu0026#39;ve seen is better than this.”