Steel City

I never intended to watch this and was only doing so with half an eye, but it gradually grew on me and got better. These sad small towns exist everywhere - not only in America, and the people who live there are the same. Some of them are trapped and sink into their despair and darkness; but some make something of themselves and are able to either move on or live a full life exactly where they are. People are people everywhere and stories and people like these are everywhere. Some of these characters were not particularly likeable, but then, who is to say. I especially liked the music very much.

What a great story and an exceptional delivery by the actors. What drew me in was the similarity between the location in Alton and my hometown. I was lucky to get out when I did even after the problems I had with the law. Some friends and family were not so lucky. I have known all these characters and I am probably one or two of them myself although I strive to be more than the environment I grew up in. Nevertheless this film brought me home and gave me perspective. I sometimes wonder who that person was making all those 'questionable' decisions.Thank God I got away. Again, thanks to all the actors and the writer for the journey home and the safe return to my blessed life today. -Charlie

This is worth it. If you like a movie with good dialogue and real character interactions then this is for you. The characters are not contrived and unlike a lot of movies this one gets better as it moves along. It's family based (but it's not a Disney family) – father and sons, with girlfriends and ex-girlfriends. Also the movie doesn't lose itself in aimless psychological meanderings. Like most families there are things that are kept hidden – but it's the rivalries and conflicts that come out best in this movie. Although I did like the reconciliations at the end of the movie, perhaps it was a little too smooth?

Brian Jun's Steel City is a fantastic, little heard of indie rust belt drama that deals in choices, consequences, regrets and what it takes to heal, if possible. In the heartlands, a young working class man (Tom Guiry) struggles with pretty much every aspect of his life. His father (an understated John Heard) has been recently incarcerated, and it's tearing him apart, as well as his family. His older brother (Clayne Crawford) is a hotheaded mess. He finds solace when his uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry, superb) offers him work and sobering life advice in equal doses. He meets a wonderful girl played by America Ferrera, and gradually, bit by bit, his story hits an upswing. This is a small story, revolving around a minuscule faction of the big picture, but that's all it is anyways, thousands of lives unfolding on personal scale, adding up to this mosaic we call humanity. Life goes on for him, and the film is but a small window into one transitionary chapter of his life. Guiry is great, but Ferrera is magic as the kind of girl anyone could only hope to end up with. Barry gives one of the most soulful turns of his storied career as the kind of no nonsense mentor who cares a lot more than is visible behind all that gruff. The kind of life affirming story that finds hope in the oddest of places.

. . . as STEEL CITY's main character Paul Joseph "P.J." Lee (played by Thomas Guiry) informs his ex-Marine Uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry) early on. This movie boils down to an eternally-ungrateful P.J. getting countless breaks from nearly everyone in his life, wrapping up with the most implausible outcome imaginable--an ironic close which will be troubling to any viewer who has given this film the slightest attention, unless they are a total cynic already. Salvaging a better-than-average 7-out-of-10 rating, however, are plausible acting performances from Guiry, Barry, John Heard as P.J.'s self-sacrificing dad Carl, America Ferrera as his ambitious girlfriend Amy, Laurie Metcalf as P.J.'s nurse mom Marianne, James McDaniel as P.J.'s cop step-dad Randall, and so on through the supporting cast. It's too bad the whole flick is set up for the "other shoe" to drop on P.J.--and it never does! P.S.--To "From Granite City, IL" who starts off saying "I live in 'Steel City' . . ." It seems only fair that a "city" (that term seems to be used here somewhat loosely) should have just ONE natural resource or manufacturing nickname (and I somehow thought PITTSBURGH was "Steel City" already--what, with the Steelers and all). The "steel mill" shown in this movie looks like a steel mini-warehouse to anyone who has seen FLASHDANCE! To illustrate what I mean, I suppose someone once had an actual "rosebush" here where I live (maybe someone still does!). I know the Van Goghs down the street have a tulip bed . . . hmmmm--that must make as "Tulip City," as well. But wait--at the edge of "town" the Greens' farm has that pumpkin patch; come October people come from as far away as Oil City to buy one. So we're "Pumpkin City," too. Furthermore, most near every home here has trees in the front AND backyards: we could be "Tree City." To sum up: If Granite City is in the top three towns nationwide for either granite or steel, better take that nickname. If not, "Podunk's" still available.

Wow! If you want a movie with realistic characters and stellar performances, this is it. No special effects, no car chases, just ordinary people with extraordinary problems. John Heard is spectacularly believable! As a father, he has failed his sons, but now tries for redemption. Raymond Barry is terrific also as Uncle Vic who has seen his share of hard times as well. Young Tom Guiry must grow up with a dark secret, but is able to do so in a way that makes his Dad proud. Excellent acting! Older brother Clayne Crawford (reminds me of Emile Hirsch) seems bent on repeating his father's mistakes. The women all play minor roles, with America Ferrara as the young brother's romantic interest in sharp contrast to her TV stuff.

This movie caught my eye because I live in a "Steel City"...Granite City, IL. Although the IMDb didn't list it among the original photography sites, many of the scenes that got my attention were from my home town. The shots in Scene 6 on the DVD with the Petri's Cafe and United Steelworkers Local 1063 are places I have driven past on the way to work for the last 36 years. The shots of the large industrial smokestacks at the end of the block are the Granite City Steel works of US Steel. A shot down State St. includes the Commercial Shoe Shop. The shot of the old downtown area that includes the painted advertisement was interesting...the building has been torn down since this film was made. My son is a police officer and was interested to hear about the inclusion of his town (East Alton, IL) in the film. Gritty, greasy, noisy, everything you might imagine two steel towns to be (Alton and Granite City, IL). But I love them both.

Superior performances are the hallmark of "Steel City," a moody, gritty, low-keyed drama set in the economically depressed area of the Upper Midwest. P.J. Lee (Tom Guiry) is a fitfully employed young man with an assortment of obstacles to overcome: his father's in jail on a vehicular manslaughter charge; his mom's re-married to a cop; his older brother's a philandering jerk whose wife walks out on him; and his girlfriend has a weight problem which makes P.J. reluctant to fully commit to her. He's also coping with the guilt of having been at least partially responsible for the fatal accident that his dad is claiming was all his fault. Though most of the screen time is taken up with the travails that P.J. is facing and the growing up he is forced to do as a result, the movie's true emotional focus is on the lengths a largely absent father will go to in an effort to redeem himself in the eyes of his son - even if that means having to sacrifice his own freedom to bring that redemption about. As the film's writer and director, Brian Jun demonstrates a nice feel for the look and flavor of the movie's wintry locale and for the tempo and rhythm of the characters' lives. "Steel City" is sure to get lost in the shuffle of bigger and grander independent and not-so-independent films out there, but the authentic performances - by Guiry, John Heard, Raymond J. Barry, Clayne Crawford, Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne") and America Ferreira (virtually unrecognizable out of her Ugly Betty get-up) - and sturdy film-making make it a movie well worth checking out.

I thought that Brian Jun's "Steel City" ran a little long, but still came out worth seeing. Focusing on a young man (Tom Guiry) and his brother having to deal with their father's (John Heard) imprisonment, the movie probably could have developed America Ferrera's character further. Raymond J. Barry's character was, in my opinion, the best character in the movie; I interpreted him as a sort of glue binding the rest of the characters - and the story - together. As I said earlier, the movie runs a little long. Not too long, but they probably could have trimmed at least a few minutes (or maybe I wouldn't think this had they developed America Ferrera's character further). But overall, I think that the movie is worth seeing, if only once.

After a tragic accident caused by the truck of the middle-aged Carl Lee (John Heard) where a woman dies with a crushed stern, he is arrested and sent to the county jail. His son PJ (Thomas Guiry), who works washing dishes and cleaning tables in a restaurant, feels lost, without financial support to keep his father's house, and is fired from his job and evicted from his house. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford) is a harder worker in a mill with a little daughter and cheats his wife with a bartender. Ben has open wounds in his relationship with his father and does not visit him in the jail. Carl's brother Vic Lee (Raymond J. Barry) helps PJ bringing him home but demanding discipline and respect. PJ's mother has just left her husband and is living with a policeman. On Christmas, the remorseful Carl forces PJ to keep an overwhelming secret that bonds them. "Steel City" is a low-budget movie that seems to be a very personal family drama, supported by magnificent performances and solid, simple and credible screenplay about people not well succeeded – losers indeed. A father with remorse for leaving his family has a second chance to redeem himself in behalf of his young son and he sacrifices his freedom to compensate his absence in his childhood and adolescence. Therefore this is a beautiful tale of redemption but never being corny or commercial. On the contrary, most of the characters are not nice, and I dare to say that they are unpleasant with their rude behaviors. Nevertheless "Steel City" is a worthy movie. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Atrás das Grades" ("Behind Bars")