[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wedlock_1991.jpg]]

''Wedlock'' (which, confusingly enough, was once released as ''Deadlock'') is a 1991 Creator/{{HBO}} ScienceFiction film directed by Lewis Teague, starring Creator/RutgerHauer, Creator/MimiRogers, and Creator/JoanChen.

Frank Warren (Hauer) is a [[GadgeteerGenius whiz with electronics]]. He teams up with his fiancee Noelle (Chen), who's something of a ManicPixieDreamGirl, and a buddy of his, Sam (Creator/JamesRemar), in order to rob a vault of jewels.

Unfortunately, they get busted, and in the process of getting away from the cops, Frank ends up (rather involuntarily) taking the fall so Sam and Noelle can escape jail time. Frank goes to a new kind of prison: all prisoners wear special necklaces, keyed to explode if they ever get more than 100 yards from each other. Only, it so happens the system can be subverted. Enter an annoying fellow prisoner, Tracy Riggs (Rogers), and a rather nasty badass prisoner, "Emerald" (Basil Wallace), who effectively runs things.

Hilarity ensues.

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!!This film provides examples of:
* ExplosiveLeash: The titular "wedlock" (or "deadlock").
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Noelle]], who is apparently ready to drop anyone the moment they become inconvenient.
* GoodCopBadCop: [[spoiler:Teal and Emerald]], respectively. One brings Frank some food while he's consigned to the "floaters" (sensory deprivation tank in an isolation cell) in an effort to get him to talk, and the other takes this opportunity to urinate on him.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Tracy]], who wasn't entirely on board with betraying Frank from the start and really gets to liking him.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The warden [[spoiler:gets blown up by the same explosive he used to keep the prisoners in jail.]] Keep in mind he was trying to play a LongGame by waiting Frank out until he confessed to where the jewels had been stashed, so Frank had a reason to set him up in this way.
* LaserGuidedKarma: In regard to the previous trope, Noelle [[spoiler:gets blown up by the other "wedlock" explosive, as the warden's own system keys ''both'' explosives to go off if the sensor for ''one'' of them goes off.]]
* MaybeEverAfter: The "happy" couple have been engaged in a lot of BelligerentSexualTension and TeethClenchedTeamwork, but what else do they have to do with their lives, and with whom else would they do it?
* PrisonRape: The warden rather unsubtly reminds Frank of where he ''could'' have ended up.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:Teal]]. Depending on how you look at it, [[spoiler:maybe Tracy as well.]]
* TooGoodToBeTrue: Frank initially isn't buying Tracy's claim that she's discovered she's "wedlocked" to him (until she actually proves it) and spurns her sexual advances. He also doesn't trust any friendly overtures from the other prisoners, and keeps his secrets from Tracy for a long time even after they make their break. As she points out later on, he doesn't trust ''anyone'', and [[ProperlyParanoid is really rather justified]] in not taking anyone's "help" at face value.
* TrickedIntoEscaping: The central "escape" is [[spoiler:actually planned by the warden, since one of the escapees will lead him to a stash of loot.]]
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: For all that the movie is set in some unspecified future time, the relatively low budget means that the movie unavoidably has quite the '80s feel to it.
* WireDilemma: Frank has to disarm his own necklace explosive [[spoiler:with a hand mirror and talking his wedlock "partner", Tracy, through the disarming steps.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Sam]] gets this from [[spoiler:Noelle]].