The flaws ultimately don't matter. Like the prison jargon, the sense of which is always clear even if the words are incomprehensible, Piñero's angry eloquence -- and his sudden flashes of tenderness -- burn away one's esthetic qualms.

With sensational material like this, disorganization is preferable to a slick, false structure. And parts of this movie seem as good as they could possibly be.

Remarkably effective film making.

The viewer walks away with a deep understanding of motivation, which helps "Short Eyes" through clichés it periodically encounters.