Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Shackles

Play trailer Poster for Shackles R 2005 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Ben Cross (D.L. Hughley) is desperate for work when he's contacted by a warden (Georg Stanford Brown) to teach at his prison. Cross jumps at the chance, hoping to inspire inmates with the power of words, but he meets resistance. Through sheer force of will, he manages to get his message across -- especially to Gabriel Garcia (Jose Pablo Cantillo), who excels under his guidance. Some prisoners are harder to reach than others, however, and Cross faces a situation that threatens to explode.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Shackles

Critics Reviews

View More
Dragan Antulov Draxblog Movie Reviews Oct 4, 2005
5/10
tells an old story in occasionally inventive way Go to Full Review Scott Weinberg DVDTalk.com Sep 4, 2005
1.5/5
A dreary little button-pusher laden with overbaked dramatics, coloring book plot conventions, and annoyingly simplistic answers to several truly difficult questions. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Jan 2, 2022 I loved this film. A great story with thought provoking concepts and ideas. A prison film but of different kind. D.L. Hughly is fantastic as a teacher who is trying to teach prison students. There's some great performances all round. A cult classic. See more Jul 22, 2020 This movie should have one an Oscar. See more Aug 4, 2015 decent enough film not advanced story telling though, with a somewhat predictable ending. See more Aug 13, 2010 loved the movie... poems are tight.. longshoot executed his roll in this movie with perfection.. See more Feb 25, 2010 An interesting idea that was kind of a mix between "24" and " Dead Poets Society". The occasional split screens definitely was an artistic choice that worked for this film. See more Jul 13, 2009 Loved the Slam Poetry on this...the message is pretty good to! See more Read all reviews
Shackles

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Charles Winkler

Director

D.L. Hughley

Ben Cross

Jose Pablo Cantillo

Gabriel Garcia

Georg Stanford Brown

Warden

Vicellous Reon Shannon

Sammy One

Jerry Quickley

Tone
View All

Shackles

Shackles (2005) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Ben Cross (D.L. Hughley) is desperate for work when he's contacted by a warden (Georg Stanford Brown) to teach at his prison. Cross jumps at the chance, hoping to inspire inmates with the power of words, but he meets resistance. Through sheer force of will, he manages to get his message across -- especially to Gabriel Garcia (Jose Pablo Cantillo), who excels under his guidance. Some prisoners are harder to reach than others, however, and Cross faces a situation that threatens to explode.
Director
Charles Winkler
Producer
Rob Cowan
Screenwriter
Donald Martin
Production Co
Destination Films
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 25, 2011
Runtime
1h 55m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings