Shepard's character periodically rattles off damning statistics about America's booming prison industry, but most of the gags are of the don't-drop-the-soap variety.
Let's Go to Prison (2006)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:4
Rotten:36
Average Rating:2.9/10
Consensus: Let's Go to Prison is guilty on all counts of cliched setups, base humor, and failure to ellicit laughs.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz — or perhaps classics in the making... When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz — or perhaps classics in the making like The Shawshank Redemption, In the Name of the Father and The Green Mile. These important works of art have two things in common: 1) they explore the fears and triumphs of unjustly arrested men railing against a cruel system and 2) they serve as a cornerstone of American dramatic cinema. Well...Let's Go To Prison shares one of those tenets. Frankly, we felt obligated to contribute to this genre of filmmaking with our own take on the core issues that inmates routinely face in 2006. While overcrowding and recidivism are topical and vital issues to address, so are other unique themes. In this film, we just happen to have the soap dropping that Steve McQueen never discovered and toilet wine that Dustin Hoffman failed to manufacture in Papillon. Based upon a non fiction book about how to stay out of jail (and/or survive it once you know you're headed upriver), Let's Go To Prison is an uncompromising, no-holdsbarred revenge comedy helmed by BOB ODENKIRK, the director who brought sketchcomedy fans Mr. Show With Bob and David. And he's about to give us everything that's been missing from the typical prison movie in his fresh, probing look at our penal system—rife with plenty of sweet, cloistered, man love. Felon John Lyshitski (DAX SHEPARD, Punk'd, Employee of the Month, Without a Paddle) has figured out the best way to get revenge on the now-dead judge who sent him to jail: "help" the official's obnoxious son, Nelson Biederman the IVth (WILL ARNETT, Arrested Development, RV, Blades of Glory), try to survive the clink. John strikes gold when Nelson is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to the same penitentiary he used to call home. He gleefully sells pot to undercover cops and gets sent back to become Nelson's cellmate, ensuring that his new buddy gets the full treatment common in American penitentiaries. Let the games begin. Lesson #1: The joint's a scary place, so you better make friends fast. Right away, Nelson offends the wrong cons and is sold—by John—to Barry (CHI McBRIDE, The Nine, The Terminal, Undercover Brother) for prison snuggling. But the moment that revenge starts tasting sweet, Nelson becomes Big Man in the Big House and turns the tables on John...changing the rules of his insane game. November 17, 2006 is the day to shower with thugs, sip toilet wine and sharpen your shivs as the locked-up are set up in Carsey-Werner Films' inaugural title and Strike Entertainment's latest production: Let's Go To Prison, a Universal Pictures release. --© Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Chi McBride
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Chi McBride, Paul Young, Dylan Baker, Michael Shannon, David Koechner
Producer: Marc Abraham, Matt Berenson
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for Let's Go to Prison
The short and the sweet of it: Let's Go to Prison is one of the worst pieces of Hollywood garbage I have ever seen.
...has its share of effective moments - most of which come courtesy of star Will Arnett...
Though sloppily edited like a bad B-movie, this poor man's version of Trading Places will undoubtedly resonate for anyone with a taste for gruesome gallows humor, and a desire to see a spoiled, rich kid get a taste of how the other half lives.
its off-kilter wit is displayed with stinginess (or is it laziness?).
Prison makes its 84-minute running time feel like a five-year sentence with no chance for parole.
It's an indifferently filmed pitch-black comedy shrouded in a pervasive grey funk that swallows up what few meager chuckles it manages.
It's hard to get laughs out of stuff that devolved into parody 10 or 20 years ago.
If movies could be punished, Let's Go to Prison would be sent to solitary confinement for impersonating a prison comedy.
As crazy and subversive as Let's Go to Prison's makers might believe it to be, it's too undisciplined and predictable to amount to anything
Arnett underplays to the point where he seems as shellshocked as his character, while Shepard seems to have forgotten that the film is supposed to be a comedy.
Because the movie can't bring itself to take that leap into full-on absurdity, the characters and comic opportunities stay confined to their cells.
Latest News for Let's Go to Prison
September 06, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Crowe vs. Bale in Box Office Shootout
Batman takes on Cinderella Man at the box office as the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale Western remake 3:10 to Yuma heads into the multiplexes over what is traditionally a... More...
July 31, 2007:
Balls of Fury Writers Working on Night At The Museum 2
It made a billion dollars and I can't remember talking to ONE person who actually liked it. But you knew it was coming. The ball is rolling on another Night at the Museum. More...
November 30, 2006:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Nativity" Leads Trio of New Releases
The post-turkey blues will kick in as the North American box office should slump this weekend following a busy Thanksgiving holiday frame. More...
November 21, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Halls" Spreads Little Cheer; "Déjà Vu" Intrigues; "The Fountain" Overflows; "Pick" Is Mixed
This week at the movies, we've got holiday mischief ("Deck the Halls," starring Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito), a phenomenon known as déjà vu ("Déjà... More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| 19% 19% | Transformers: Revenge … |
| 55% 55% | Orphan |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 88% 88% | Ballast |
| 66% 66% | The Merry Gentleman |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Let's Go to Prison at Rotten Tomatoes
- Let's Go to Prison at IGN
- Let's Go to Prison at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

