Steel City (2006)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Brian Jun

Writer:

Brian Jun (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A father behind bars. A secret that would change everything.

Plot:

During a Midwestern winter, two working-class brothers must cope with their recently incarcerated father.

Plot Keywords:

Blue Collar | Confession | Busboy | Police | Tattoo

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 18	8:00 AM	SHOW
Sat. July 18	4:45 PM	SHOW

Cast

Jamie Anne Allman	...	Maria Lee (as Jamie Anne Brown)
Raymond J. Barry	...	Vic Lee
Kristian Best	...	Michael Karns
Michael Cowan	...	Carpenter at Fire Job
Clayne Crawford	...	Ben Lee
James DeBello	...	Danny
America Ferrera	...	Amy Barnes
Celesta Gentelin	...	Baby Jenny at 1
Rusty Gray	...	Marcus
Tom Guiry	...	PJ Lee
Ricardo Gutierrez	...	Ralph
John Heard	...	Carl Lee
James R. Hentrich	...	Charlie Haskel
Richard Hoffman Jr.	...	Carl Lee's attorney
Amy Holland	...	Distrought Woman
Ian Ivkovich	...	Young PJ Lee
Charlie Keshner	...	Carl's Jail Officer
Gerald J. Lange Jr.	...	Diner Scene Patron
Dennis Lebby	...	Jimmy
Heather McComb	...	Lucy James
James McDaniel	...	Randall Karn
Laurie Metcalf	...	Marianne Karn
Si Osborne	...	Detective Brady
James Simpson	...	Carpenter at Fire Job (as James 'Bumper' Simpson)
George Stumpf	...	Young Carl Lee
Jani Vorwerk	...	Young Marianne Karn
Carly Weiss	...	Jenny at age 2
Robert Wood	...	Casey

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief drug use.

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Alton, Illinois, USA

Company:

Steel City Productions LLC

Quotes:

Carl Lee: everyone is born ugly, then you look good for forty years, then you start to look ugly again

Better than you would think

Steel City is the story of a dysfunctional family working through the crisis of the father being jailed. The mother isn't present, although members of the extended family (uncles, etc.) play prominent roles.

In my humble opinion, the only reason this movie doesn't have a higher rating is that none of the characters are particularly sympathetic; there isn't a single one of them that you would invite over to your house. In fact, you might be best advised to call 911 the instant any of these characters showed up in your neighborhood.

That aside, the movie is enjoyable for the storyline, good acting, and good production values. The secret mentioned in the plot outline isn't such a big secret, don't look for a twist ending or suspense.

Watch it when you can't find what you were looking for and have to settle for what's left in the rental store. It makes a pleasant evening of movie watching without being great.