Once Fallen

Review: I'm usually a fan of Ed Harris's work, but I found this movie quite weak and the storyline pretty boring. It seemed like it was made for TV and you don't really get to see why Ed Harris is so feared in jail. You also don't get to see what happened to the corrupt cop after all of his evil doings and the ending was corny. I now know why I hadn't heard anything about the film before it came came because it's one of those low budget films that will be forgotten, even though there were some decent actors in it. The only watchable factor is that you want to see what happens to the main character whose trying to go straight, but apart from that, I didn't find it that interesting. Disappointing!

Round-Up: At the age of 64, Ed Harris is still churning out movies with great performances. From Pain & Gain to a brief role in Gravity, he still makes some decent movies but a lot of them go straight to DVD. He has a unique, cool way of acting which is great to watch but he has made some bad choices of late. I was surprised to see Sharon Glees, who used to play Cagney in Cagney & Lacey, but she only had a small role without much lines. I think that everyone thought that she would have been a bigger star than she was. As for this movie, it started off well and the storyline looked promising, but it went downhill after the main character came out of prison. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/crime movies about a guy who comes out of prison and tries to go straight, now that he has to look after his 5 year old boy, but he keeps on getting pulled in the wrong direction. 3/10

This film receiving a 3.6/10 is unfathomable to me. The acting is superb and the plot develops very well. This film is about a family and their close knit friends having to live with the hard choices they make, and the price they pay for those choices. There is real emotion to this film and the characters are developed extremely well. It has elements of film noir in its gritty and detailed depiction of characters with rough edges and all but that really adds to this film's power. Ed Harris does not disappoint in his role as the deeply flawed yet caring father, who puts everything on the line for his son over and over again (not wanting to spoil anything, that is all I will say about that). An excellent film, well worth watching.

If you're a fan of independent film do yourself a favor and see Once Fallen. I've seen countless low budget films and this is one of the best I've seen. Writer/Director/Actor, Ash Adams should be applauded for putting together such a stellar cast with a budget of only $650,000. And his performance as a dirty cop is both captivating and terrifying. Once Fallen is a crime drama with a very touching theme about fathers and sons at the center. The strong performances of the cast adds to the raw emotion of the film. Watch the Blu-ray version so you can appreciate how good this film looks. This film deserves more attention!

Brian presley (was on port charles, for years) is chance, just out of prison. Life growing up was pretty rough, and his dad, played by ed harris is also in prison. It's got some issues; we're twenty minutes in, and the plot seems to be that he has to take care of his kid, now that mom has taken off. And chance seems to owe someone money, although we have no idea who or why. They hardly ever say anyone's name, so we're never really sure who anyone is. The sound level is sometimes so low, we have to really crank the volume, which is annoying. Now it's thirty minutes in, we find out that dad is running a drug syndicate from inside prison, and doesn't want chance to be any part of it. It gets pretty messy. Swearing, blood, and violence. This has some pretty well known names in smaller parts... rance howard (ron's dad), sharon gless (cagney), alison eastwood (daughter of clint), amy madigan is rose. The story has legs, but needs a tune-up. Could have been better. The acting performances were fine. Written and directed by ash adams. Was on ryan's hope, acted a bit, and has moved on to writing and directing.

I am giving a rather low rating for a movie that is, shot for a low budget of $650000 in only a few weeks, surprisingly well made. I'll try my best to explain why, without spoiling any aspect of the story:

the movie starts out strong as the main character Chance, a drug dealer released from prison after five years is trying hard to change his live for the better. what's not to like about this beginning? Chance is likable (and cute) enough, no surprise here: we want him to succeed but we almost instantly sense that chances for Chance are slim!

the more the story evolves and presents its challenges to our "hero to be", the more all the characters are evolving into rather overdone caricatures, loaded with stereotypes ...

Writer/Producer/Director/Actor Adams meant well but in the end only manages to deliver a well executed movie with an o.k. story but totally lacking convincing characters. This, however is only my personal opinion and should not keep anyone from watching the movie.