Felon

This was just great, guys - I loved it!

The acting was great, the script was great, the cast was great! I was actually moved by the performances and the storyline in this movie. It made me realize that I take lots of stuff for granted in this world. As easily as waking up in the morning - as easily and swiftly your life can be turned upside down. This movie perspectivates ones life and at the end, what you're left with, is the feeling of fulfillment and the urge to do something good to the ones you love - or find somebody to love and take good care of them.

A bit gory and ironic at the end - but overall - like one of the other reviews said - one of the greater prison-movies! ...And Val Kilmer - OMG - GREAT JOB, DUDE!

What a great experience, guys! Thank you for that!

/Martin Jakobsen

I was lucky to see a screener for this film. At first I wasn't expecting much as the last film I saw with Val Kilmer-Conspiracy-I shut off 15 minutes into it in disgust.

Felon, is an excellent film with great acting, a great plot and good dialog. This is by far the best movie I've seen Stephen Dorf in and Val Kilmer gives a solid performance. While the storyline flirts with typical prison antagonists and a pseudo-familiar plot the story is very realistic and highly believable.

Lots of suspense, good solid action, excellent cinematography and great acting make this film a must see for drama/suspense fans. Its great to see Val Kilmer resuming his place as one of the best actors of his generation.

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.

Despite the proliferation of prison movies since, well, ever, FELON manages to be a fresh and entertaining example of the genre. Stephen Dorff (remember him?) stars as an ordinary family guy who accidentally kills a burglar and finds himself in a high-security prison.

The usual prison clichés abound, with a lot of the focus on brutal fisticuffs as inmates battle it out for supremacy. It reminded me a little of Van Damme's IN HELL, although while that was a pure action film with superbly staged fights, FELON concentrates on the drama between the characters.

Overall, the film holds together well. Time is taken to get to know the characters, not just the prisoners but also those on the outside: the brutal guard who takes his problems home with him, the wife struggling to make it with a husband in prison. It's a film which avoids stereotyping heroes and villains and does well because of it.

One of the real strengths - and this is a surprise - is Val Kilmer in a supporting role as a seasoned lifer. Kilmer turns out to be excellent, bringing real gravitas to his role; to put it bluntly, I've never seen him this good before, and watching him inhabit his role is a real pleasure. Dorff, too, is actually pretty decent, making it easy for the viewer to sympathise with his character's plight.

FELON certainly isn't a classic film, and it's far from the best of the prison movie sub-genre, but it's one of those movies you catch on TV late at night which leaves a real impression. I really liked it.