One of the best prison movies out there to see, "Short Eyes" comes to present us a bitter and cold welcoming of a new unwanted prisoner in the hall: a child molester or as inmates call, a 'Short Eye'. The man in question is Clark Davis (played by Bruce Davison), an educated man, and totally opposite background of the majority present in that prison, arrested for child abuse, stranded in a place where he has no possible chance of making 'friends', and not even the chief guard likes him, promising to make hell of his life in there. Frightened and constantly persecuted by the other prisoners, he only has the chance to share some of his thoughts with Juan (José Pérez), who tries his best to believe that the man is innocent, becoming a confident to his stories that doesn't seem to make the other an innocent person. Tension is built up when a group of prisoners decide to get rid of Clark, then....be ready for the suspense! It's very surprising to see a theme like this being dealt in a film, presenting a tough reality in a very realistic way despite a few strange things here and there. But I gotta say that it was a little difficult to really enter in the mood of this film after seeing prisoners (one of them played by singer Curtis Mayfield, who makes the good soundtrack) doing musical numbers at the beginning, all of them happy to be there in jail; it was a little difficult to take it seriously during the first minutes. But then when Clark shows up, the movie starts to develop really well. And his character is actually more like a supporting character, the others are really the main characters and we're allowed to see their intrigues, their fight for things, for power, and their desire for Cupcakes (Tito Goya), the youngest of the prisoners. It's a well adapted play, dramatically involving, very thrilling and with lots of surprises. Must be noticed the memorable performances of the casting, with an outstanding acting coming from the always excellent Bruce Davison, who exclusively plays in other films the guy you'll always like and here, somehow you'll like him as well despite what the character represents. In real life we wouldn't feel any kind of sympathy for a man like his character.I was unaware of this film until a little research (can't remember of what or who) that brought me to a poster with an appealing tag line, the famous 'Jesus help me, cause men won't do' (present in a dialog between Clark and Juan); after that I had to watch it and liked a lot. Might not be a "Shawshank Redemption" but it's a good film as well. One of the forgotten classics of the 1970's that deserves some appreciation. 9/10

I saw this movie at about the time it was made, on PBS, and a crappy little table top television.Others have described the plot and the nature of the character interactions in good, accurate detail, so I won't bother. I would only like to encourage others to get hold of this movie, any way they can, and to watch it, preferably with a friend, or even better, with a loved one. That will make the ultimate, and perhaps entirely expected tragedy easier to cope with, and will give you someone to talk with as your insights unsettle you, and as you are consistently impressed, sometimes in unexpected and startling ways, (which inevitably benefit by shared enthusiasm and discussion) by the actors, at least some of whom (i.e. Freddy Fender) have had very little or even absolutely no acting experience whatsoever. IMO there is not a single weakness in this movie and the movie itself is relentlessly realistic and unremittingly convincing.The two most lasting impressions for me...A)I have never forgotten the details of this movie and it seems to have been burned indelibly onto my memory, so that even 35 years (approximately) after I saw it (once) I could give you a good summary of it, including the unexpected plot twists and turns, and B) Even though I heartily disliked Freddy Fender's music my opinion of him went "through the roof" as a result of his performance in this movie. IMO he's "da man."I'm buying a copy of this movie (in DVD format this time) as soon as I submit this review.Please do yourself a favour and watch it.Douglas Coleman

The performances in film version of Short Eyes are perhaps some of the best I've seen. Short Eyes, in prison slang, means child molester. The whole play revolves on a white pedophile Clark Davis interacting in a prison whose majority are Puerto Ricans and Blacks, and Davis' interaction with Juan who attempts to come to terms with Davis' need for sex with children.There are several memorable characters such as the very young and tender Julio, known as Cupcakes by the prisoners, who is the target of unwanted homosexual attention by several, if not all, prisoners. El Raheem is a strong black man, perhaps a Black Panther, who studies the Koran all day long and acts on his feelings of anger towards white people. Longshoe Murphy is a tough young Irish. And of course Clark Davis and Juan, who are the main characters of the play.Pinero, who plays GoGo in his the film version of his play, wrote this play while in Sing Sing prison at around 1974 for armed robbery, and first was performed by a cast of prisoners. Short Eyes had a very short success on Broadway.The only problem of the movie is the cinematography-it is rather boring, especially in this time where special FX of Lord of the Rings is rather common. But there are two or three rather beautiful scenes, one with a prisoner posing in front of a poster. Despite the very dated lackluster cinematography, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this film.

"Short Eyes" has an authentic look and feel, but suffers from an unfocused script, confusing dialogue (racial tensions run high in this prison....and the movie begs for subtitles!) and static direction. You know that something is wrong when the most compelling scene in a movie is the sordid confessional monologue of a child-molester. (**)