Coming to HBO next Monday, March 27:
ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Directors:
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
Premiere:
HBO (March 2017)
About:
A Florida prison program provides a last chance for young perpetrators to avoid extensive sentences.
The Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Boot Camp Program puts young inmates through their paces over 16 arduous weeks in the hopes that the experience will help them turn their lives around before they become part of the revolving door of the prison system. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who executive produced the project, knows this world well, having had run-ins with the law as a youth. Appearing in the film, he encourages the young men to take advantage of the program, no matter how difficult the drill instructors push them, knowing that on the other end is the possibility of a new start. Alpert and O’Neill follow several subjects through the rigorous boot camp, designed to break them down through psychological and physical tests, encourage them to break bad habits, learn discipline, and prepare them for life on the outside so that they don’t once again return to lives of crime. While subjects aren’t individuated particularly well, the overall setting is very effectively conveyed, offering viewers an often intense and affecting experience.
what (not) to doc 