First Time Felon

I am not one to cry, so it takes a powerful movie and powerful performance to pull some tears out of my eyes. This was the second time I saw the movie, and it was even more powerful than the first. Everything was perfectly balanced, so much was left unsaid in words, but got through in other ways. I have always been a big fan of Charles Dutton, and I am so impressed by his first role as a director. Omar Epps did a fantastic job, even when he is just alone in the screen, his face speaks volumes. I cannot think of a single thing I would change about this movie.

Though it was a bleak picture of America, and especially black America, this movie gives us so much to hope for, and provides goals we can work towards. It sends a very very positive message to children, and I would recommend it for teenagers. I would recommend that a parent watch it with his children and then have a discussion afterward. I hope that everyone watches this movie.

Though the movie has some sappy moments, I found that it was very fast paced. The timing was precise and fantastic and never interrupted the flow. Sit down and watch this movie with American Historey X and you will be in for a fantastic evening. In fact I recommend you sit down with you teenage son, watch both and then discuss.

I hope this was helpful.

This will be my first comment posting due to the fact that this is first time I felt the need to do so. I caught this movie somewhere towards the beginning and within 10 minutes it had pulled me in to the point where I could not step away. At first I thought it was going to be a "prison movie" but turned out to be so much more. When the boot camp sequence ended the movie just got better and better. Omar Epps was tremendous in this movie and actually had me caring about the character ,which never happens to me to the point that it did here. I felt that I was watching someones life story and not fiction,and it turned out I was right after signing on here. Omar made this movie very believable and I would recommend you see this movie. I will watch it again.

A movie provides entertainment,FTF told a real story realistically. I missed the beginning credits so didn't know what it was about till I saw Epps and knew it couldn't be something ordinary.

First Time Felon doesn't rush along because its' story isn't one to be rushed, critics call it slow, I call it insightful.

The hood trying to give up his "hood" has a tough time because he's become a fencesitter in the eyes of all. He's not accepted by society for being honest about his conviction neither is he one of the boys because he's seen the end of that road and this is depicted harshly when Pookie is blown away right next to him, that could have been him and for a minute his own existence was in the balance.

Greg Yance's story is deeply moving in an "it could happen to you" kind of way and you get pulled in like one of the comments said, it holds you right through and I found myself rooting for Yance when he hit the streets again and again, his Mum's support was instrumental in keeping him going,I didn't find it mushy in the least.

Omar Epps is a multi talented actor who delivers every time. This is one of his finest performances till date.

A 7/10

More interesting than entertaining, "FTF" follows one inner-city street hood from his first time "bust" for drug dealing through one of the controversial "boot camp" style reform programs back into the streets where he is again faced with a choice between easy money or long unemployment lines. A journeyman film which runs a bit long with it's attempts to milk sympathy from the audience, "FTF" is a somewhat staged telling of a true story, a tour de force by a well cast Epps, and a seemingly serious attempt to give insights into the plight of the young inner-city black male with a criminal record.

This TV movie is a bleak but insightful look at how a young black American copes with and ultimately benefits from being sent to a Boot Camp instead of prison. I did enjoy this movie as it took us into the dark and depressing life of a young African American but it could have been so much better. I would have liked the relationship with the two gang Bangers to have been explored a little bit more and we could also have done without the slushy sentimental bit in the middle of the film.

I had never heard of the actor Omar Epps and I was impresssed with him in the lead role. Over all a good movie. 7 out of 10.