Jailbait

His screenplay better suited to the stage than the screen, writer-director Brett C. Leonard traces the power struggle between two prison cellmates: Lifer Jake (Guirgis) is slyly determined to make newbie Randy (Pitt) his “bitch,” but Randy—all watery blue eyes and pouty lips—has unexpected wiles of his own. For most of its 90 minutes, Jailbait rarely strays from the claustrophobic confines of their cell; whether or not that feels like a harsh sentence will depend upon the viewer’s tolerance for intense, two-handed psychodrama. (Opens Fri; Village East.) — Tom Beer