Traître

This movie would be so much better if it wasn't filmed in such a shaky manner. It made me totally seasick. Great story, acting and premise, though. We really enjoyed the idea.

But I could barely watch - I had to mostly just listen to it. Filming with constant motion does NOT make the movie better. I hate when movies are like this.

The picture tells the authentic experiences of convicts of a prison that is a hell on the earth, reflecting the hardship existence of the inmates .We have seen men tortured,harassed and humiliated in a gaol where rules the strongest law.

An ordinary family man (Stephen Dorff, also producer) is a fine worker with a good woman(Marisol Nichols) and one son. However he kills a delinquent in loyal defense. Then he's accused and as convict is sent to a severe jail. There is harassed and humiliated until that the fury and revenge emerge. He's only helped by a con (Val Kilmer)framed for life. The film takes place into four walls of a jail and its yard involving the tough life of the prisoners.The starring confronts risks and sufferings for reaching freedom.

This interesting film is essentially developed in prison with some images out prison. The greatest part is narrated into courtyard prison because of it reflects the violent existence of the inmates, with the fights,threats,murders and where rules the strongest's law. In the picture there are thrills,violence,drama,tension and a little bit of action in the final confrontation. The picture obtained enough success, it's a real ¨Sleeper¨ . Stephen Dorff's interpretation is very fine but Val Kilmer is much better, he makes a terrific acting as the veteran convict who teaches at naive inmate to taking on the risks and dangers of the gaol ; his performance bears remarkable resemblance to Ben Kingsley in ¨An innocent man¨ directed by Peter Yates and that also has certain similarities in the argument. And of course, Harold Perrineau as sensation-hungry nasty warden is top-notch. Furthermore, the picture contains realist cinematography and atmospheric musical score. Ric Roman Waugh directs with genius and masterfully transcending the issue and gives something definitively original. The story will appeal to Prison genre enthusiast and Val Kilmer fans. Rating : Very good. Better than average, well worth watching.

At the start of the film, I wasn't impressed with much - poor directing, lack of proper cast direction, bad sound quality, and even got annoyed with the horrible shaky cam that started to give me a migraine. But as the film progressed, I'm not sure if I got used to the shaky cam (as well as the other issues) or if in fact, everything started to improve, but I started really getting into the story. It still had issues with bad scene transitions and some lack of proper direction, but most can be forgiven as rookie mistakes for newb (at the time) filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh.

However what this film did deliver is a constant tension and suspense filled story, getting better by the minute, and stellar performances by Dorff and especially Kilmer, who nailed his character. Waugh has certainly grown and improved as a filmmaker, as one of my favorite all-time films is Shot Caller (I rated it 10/10), also written and directed by Waugh. So maybe I was a little hard on this film as I saw it after Shot Caller, which was a near-perfect film, and thus set the bar high. Nevertheless, this film is a great story and another of Waugh's must-see films, but maybe see this one first if you haven't seen Shot Caller yet. Both films are in the same genre, but Shot Caller is imo Waugh's best work to date.

Most prison movies are essentially the same story told with different characters. Usually the protagonist is convicted of a crime (which he did or did not do), is sent to prison and finds that they have to either adapt to their brutal new surroundings or die. Allies are won, enemies are made, death lurks around the corner. "Felon" is no different but three things raise it above most others.

First is the setting. Filmed at the New Mexico State Penitentiary, the movie carries an air of authenticity and gritty realism that movie sets simply can't provide.

Next is the casting. Stephen Dorff has always been a very underrated actor and here he provides a wonderful portrayal of a man let down by the legal system and cast adrift in a living nightmare. His descent from upstanding family man to an enraged prison inmate with fire in his eyes and blood on his knuckles is perhaps predictable but Dorff sells the portrayal to the audience completely. However, Harold Perrineau and Val Kilmer are the real stars here. The first (whom avid fans of the television shows "Lost" and "Oz" will already be familiar with) offers a great performance as Lieutenant Jackson, a happy family orientated man outside of prison but a monster within its walls. Kilmer, meanwhile, is John Smith, the philosophical but potentially dangerous convict who comes to befriend Dorff's Wade during their time together.

The third and final ingredient that ensures "Felon" impresses, is the passionate directing by Ric Roman Waugh who also wrote the screenplay (based, apparently, on events at the notorious Californian State Prison). With the help of some incredible editing, the movie powers along at a frantic rate and rarely gives the audience time to breathe. If the ending is somewhat contrived, you can forgive it because the journey to reach the conclusion was so intense.

Highly recommended, especially for fans of "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Big House", "An Innocent Man" and "Lock Up".

It's really nice to stumble upon good movies when you don't expect it. Nowadays, we are becoming more and more guided by the marketing that goes behind the movies, to realize when we actually go see them that we are often left unsatisfied.

Felon is a movie about a man who is working hard to create a life for himself and his family, he has worked hard to establish his own business and feels as though he is finally ready to start reaping the fruits of his labour. Then, life brings a unexpected twist and he finds himself in prison. From this point on, we see transformations of a man who is forced into a new world where he has no control.

This movie is a great glimpse of the extreme conditions that the American correctional system can create. It also displays very well how people can get corrupted by power. All the actors in this movie shine and portray perfectly their characters. The story is very well told and by the end of the movie, you are left reflecting on how the correctional system has so many flaws and how it drives people to become their worst, both as inmates and as guards. However, the film also shows that even in these circumstances, there are great acts of humanity and compassion.

A very good movie, definitely worth the watch. 8/10.