Felon
Tags: realism, violence, murder

Plot synopsis:
Family man Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is living the American Dream with his girlfriend Laura (Marisol Nichols) and their son Michael: they have a nice house, Wade has just raised a loan to make his company grow and they are going to get married. However, their dream becomes a nightmare when Wade unintentionally kills a burglar on his lawn. By attacking the fleeing, unarmed intruder outside of the house, he is arrested for murder, and during the first night in the county jail, Wade gets into a brawl after being attacked by an inmate in the community cell.
With $1,000,000 bail he can't raise, after 90 days, the public defender is able to negotiate a deal for Wade to serve three years for involuntary manslaughter, or he could spend more time awaiting trial. Sentenced to Corcoran State Prison, during the bus ride over, Danny Sampson (Chris Browning), leader of the local Aryan Brotherhood, stabs a man and hides the knife with a young Aryan member named Snowman (Johnny Lewis) sitting behind Wade. In a moment's panic, Snowman hides the knife under Wade's seat and forces him to deny knowledge of it. As a result, Wade is sent to solitary confinement until the mess can be sorted out. Upon further investigation by Lieutenant Jackson (Harold Perrineau), Jackson is convinced Wade is an accessory to murder because he denies knowledge of the knife, and decides to send Wade to the Security Housing Unit (SHU), of which Jackson is the commanding officer.
Elsewhere, John Smith (Val Kilmer), an inmate serving a life sentence in San Quentin prison for killing the entire families of two men who brutally raped and murdered his wife and daughter, is shown in solitary confinement for starting a riot among the prison population for what appears to be his own pleasure. During a visit with his friend Gordon (Sam Shepard), a former prison guard who John had saved from being killed, Gordon reveals John has been given one final chance before being stuck in solitary confinement for life. Gordon requests that John be transferred, and subsequently, John is sent to the SHU as well, and becomes Wade's new cellmate.
Life is tough in the SHU. In addition to 23-hour lockdown days, and the inability to see his family at first, the daily hour of yard time consists of inmate fights, on which the guards bet. Scared and desperate, Wade initially groups with the Aryans, even going so far as to shave his head. At first upon the request of Snowman and his cronies, Wade cooperates by participating in a majority of the fights. When Wade decides at one point that he's fed up with being the one to do so and confronts Snowman, he's attacked by the group, and narrowly escapes with the help of John. As a result, both John and Wade are now green lit by the Aryans. Soon after, Sampson meets with Wade, John and the rest of the Aryans. Revealing he knew Snowman hid the knife under the bus seat on the way to the prison, he has him beaten and stabbed. Sampson also informs Wade that he is now without the Aryan's protection unless he joins, but assures him none of his men will come after him.
At different points throughout the film, it's shown that not all of the guards are in favor of Jackson's methods. Officer Diaz (Greg Serano) complies fully, and appears as sadistic as Jackson, but Sgt. Roberts (Nick Chinlund) does not want to get caught and lose his pension, and newly hired Officer Collins (Nate Parker) clearly has a higher moral standard than his boss. Due to Jackson's influence, however, both remain quiet and cooperative on the operation.
In addition to the prison violence, Wade's regular visits with Laura start to take their toll on their relationship. Michael has nightmares after one of his visits, and the family's finances are running low, even after selling the house and the truck, and using up virtually all of Wade's business loan. Things come to a head when Snowman, having been released from the infirmary, agrees with Lt. Jackson to testify against Wade and Sampson concerning the bus murder, and be placed in protective custody. Wade and Sampson are subsequently put on trial and sentenced for an additional six years and life, respectively. Laura, at the encouragement of her mother, breaks up with Wade through a letter. Enraged, and seemingly having nothing to live for, Wade breaks down and resorts to fighting the prisoners.
One night, Jackson is called to a hospital after his son was run over by a drunk driver, and due to this being his third DUI offense, he is being guarded by police. Jackson visits the man's room, and promises he will spread word around California prisons that the man is a pedophile, guaranteeing that he will be beaten and tortured mercilessly no matter where he does his time.
Laura visits Wade again and reveals neither she nor their son want to live without him, and she will wait until he gets out. After talking to John, Wade devises a plan that can reveal the truth about the violence in the prison, and get him released. Laura goes to meet John's friend Gordon, and together they persuade an FBI agent to accompany them to the prison. Meanwhile, Wade asks Jackson to schedule a fight with the black inmate who first assaulted Wade in the jail. Lt. Jackson, however, declares that this match be to the death. The morning of the fight, Laura, Gordon and an FBI agent arrive to meet with the warden of the prison. Wade, meanwhile, enters the yard and fights, which ends with him slamming the inmate's head into the ground repeatedly. Jackson orders Wade to kill the inmate, and when he does not comply, Jackson threatens to shoot Wade. Suddenly, John, Sampson, and the rest of the prison population stand in front of Wade to protect him, having grown tired of Jackson's sadistic actions. Jackson orders everyone out of the yard and turns the surveillance cameras off.
Wade and Smith are ordered back in the yard, and forced to kneel with Jackson holding a knife, while Officer Diaz aims his gun from the control room. Jackson tells them since they are convicts, no one will care what they think, and because the cameras are off, Jackson can murder them both and then claim John murdered Wade, and the guards had to kill John in retaliation.
John pulls out a knife he concealed and slashes Jackson's leg and throat, but is killed immediately after by gunshots. Suddenly Officer Collins, having secretly turned the cameras on in the control room, sounds the alarm, alerting the rest of the prison. Hearing the sirens, Laura, Gordon, and the FBI agent discover what has happened in the yard from the warden. The footage is reviewed, and Wade is placed in protective custody, his sentence reduced back to the original three years (which will end in less than three months). Wade is visited by Gordon, who passes on Laura's message about setting up a new wedding date, and leaves him with a letter John wrote to Wade before he died.
Before departing, Gordon reveals that John never told him of anything that happened in the SHU, and even though John saved him from getting killed, Gordon kept visiting because John was one of his true friends, to which Wade replies "Mine too." Wade then says that John died the way he wanted, and that the prison never broke him, to which Gordon agrees.
In a voice over, John reads the contents of his letter to Wade, urging Wade to protect his family and do anything for them, even if it means having to kill again. Snowman is then shown being brought back to the SHU from protective custody, and is put in a cell with Sampson. The last shot shows Wade walking out of the prison a free man, and his wife and child run to embrace him as John's voice concludes the letter with "So long, friend."

Review: 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.
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.
Kilmer played a pivotal role towards the end, for all the dubious minds who'd question his character/ role in the film.I believe Ric Roman did a wonderful job by addressing the many different situations that we as humans can go through in daily life.
It's defiantly one of those films that you can watch again and again.Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is an average guy, successful business, and living with his fiancé and son.
The line that John Smith (Val Kilmer) puts over a couple of times in the film, "When your life is defined by a single action, you change the concept of time", is interwoven into all the individual characters plots so brilliantly, this film hits you on some many different levels.Marisol Nichols, who I have only seen in 24 before, gives a great performance as Wade Porter's fiancé, struggling to make ends meat while he is in prison.
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.
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.
It kinda reminded me of "The Shawshank Redemption" (another great movie) with Stephen Dorff being Tim Robbins and Val Kilmer being Morgan Freeman (the comparison is a little bit forced but still valid with the two movies plots being somewhat similar).
The movie delivers a very diverse emotional palette, with tear breaking scenes all the way to explicit hardcore violence thanks to incredible acting by Dorff, Kilmer and Perrineau, truly bringing their characters to life.
His cell-mate John Smith (Val Kilmer) that was sentenced to life revenging the death of his family befriends Wade and gives helpful advices and hope to Wade to return to his family.The good "Felon" is another movie that discloses the corruption and brutality in the American Penal system, where the rules of a civilized society are neither followed by the inmates nor by most of the security guards.
The dramatic story is engaging, and it is great to see Val Kilmer having again a top-notch performance after a long period of weak movies.
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.
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.
Hard Time is surely upon the inmates for they are being put to fight each other under the supervision of Jackson and his team who eventually ends all fights by shooting the fighting inmates but only after a fair amount of fighting took place.The movie in itself is not badly done and features some great acting by both Kilmer (as the wise and ruthless bunk mate) Perrineau and Dorff.
But there are some serious issues with the film.In brief: the movie is overwrought, crammed with the usual prison clichés and too unrealistic for it's own good.
Felon also suffers from being way too straightforward and lacked heavily in the humor department.That said, there are some very convincing scenes and I would recommend this movie to those that are really into the underdog prison type of films such as Lock Up and The Last Castle.
Officers in other districts have been found innocent of this same scenario when the item mistaken for a weapon was a cellphone, candy bar, pen, and car keys for some examples.Guns deaths in this country in self defense situations, civilians in the U.S. kill more criminals than police, at nearly double the rate.Regardless of whether or not you agree that police or civilians in self defense have a right to kill another person, it doesn't matter because the plot of this movie completely disregards U.S. laws and just runs with a false premise.No one would be convicted of murder to quickly if they had accidentally killed someone that was robbing their home clearly.
He gave his character an extremely believable depth and solidity, and coupled with some great performances from Dorff, and the rest of the prison cast, created a malignantly sick and implosive atmosphere in the scenes.
another pile of shite!Reasons not to watch - Poor script, poor acting, lame story, seen it all before prison film (made 'Lock Up' look a work of genius).
The action fight scenes are engulfing, the acting by Kilmer and Dorff is amazing...Far from Blade and Heat....but performances just as good if not better!
This is Kilmers best performance since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Dorff, who I haven't seen in quite a while, does an amazing portrait of an ordinary man who is forced to make some terrible choices just to stay alive and be able to go back to his life.All characters are human and believable.
While Kilmer's character is truly believable, Dorff's can stretch the imagination at times.While some of the scenes are exaggerated they are handled with the realm of reality, having spent 15 years in prison, being moved several times, I can say that this does happen maybe not to this extreme but in parts there is a lot of truth behind this.
The move gives insight into a life in prison and conjures up feelings of pity, anger and sympathy at different times.Val Kilmer puts in a tight performance and i barely recognised him in the first short cause of his unusual beard.
this one is for all val kilmer fans.This may not be the best prison movie..say something like shawshank redemption but it has its heart on the right place..
I cannot understand the fuss being made about this film.It starts well enough making you very empathetic towards the lead character Wade Porter who reacts to a situation in the way we all like to think we would.
I gave it a 5 because in no way is it an 8.You have Movies like Shawshank Redemption and Escape From Alcatraz..Then you have Lock-Up and Penitentiary..This movie falls somewhere in the middle.Its a rehash of a much already told story.And Val needs to lay off the chips and dip.If you go into it expecting nothing new...but you dig prison flicks...have at it.
The only weak one in the cast was definitely Harold Primeau who looked thoroughly uncomfortable in his role as the caricature of a villainous, inhumane prison guard.You can tell that the director went to great lengths to preserve the accuracy of this film with respect to prison life in general.
Having watched prison documentaries on Discovery and NatGeo, I can say that this film does not glorify nor undermine the no-holds-barred lifestyle of survival present in the corrections system.Val Kilmer does extremely well with his role as a convicted 'lifer' felon who has spent a significant part of his life behind bars.
Stephen Dorff - who is thrust suddenly into this fish-out-of-water role after being convicted - is surprisingly convincing.Ric Roman Waugh - in the DVD commentary - ensures that the prisoners in this film are real-life gang members or ex-convicts who were also technical advisors.
Over the years I've seen many great films, funny ones, one's that make you think and one's that you come out the picture house with that cold shiver running down your back.For several years now I've been so disappointed with what gets shown in my local picture house, just seems to be films with such weak scripts or just your usual commercial rubbish but i can honestly say that FELON is not one of these films.I'll not write a review of it but just say that I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a well acted and written movie, this is without a shadow of a doubt top of it's game in both those fields.Cheers Todd.
Shawshank redemption is a good example of how this could have dragged on a little more to delve more into some of the 'side factors' of the characters.First of all, he way they shot the film puts the viewer in a somewhat 3rd-person view to give you the impression that you are actually there when it is all happening.
Harold Perrineau as the prison guard captain was a nice add-in, although they could have used someone perhaps a little more 'scary-looking'.All in all, the original storyline, excellent characters, and general feeling of fulfillment makes this movie a definite see..
I can't say that I like it.I can't say that I don't like it.This sadly is the truth of what prison is like.You can get jailed for little reason and unless your defense is solid, you go to jail - whether it's long term or not, there are rules...and they are not the same as outside.Many times the guards are far worse than the inmates who are detained...and this proves it to a better perspective than most jail movies I've seen.It's a game that once you leave that courtroom, you have to learn very quickly.To those that commented on being charged and arrested for protecting your family - yes, sad but true...unless you were injured there was a weapon in direct contact, should you kill somebody or even injure them serious enough to be disabled or have physical problem, then you can be charged with murder, attempted murder, willful negligence and a slew of other charges.Even if you were in a convenience store and it was being robbed and you worked as a cashier...unless a weapon was brought onto you, should you defend yourself and hold and sustain the attacker - you are liable for criminal charges...even if there are witnesses and camera video recordings.The justice system is beyond messed.If you were to injure somebody in a related instance, it would sometimes be better to be killed in the same event - as the law can screw you severely.This happens in the US and in Canada.Nobody is innocent and that is the sad but true fact.Your own home, locked, secured and protected by you and your family has little value the moment you decide to defend yourself and have any good chance in doing so.Justice is blind, it's for the wealthy and the famous.Never rely on the public defender.
He pleads to manslaughter and immediately his life is turned upside down by the prison system.Val Kilmer puts on a super performance in this movie as a mentor and his deep thinking philosophy of the way the prison system works and cool calmness is just incredible and I think he really nailed his part.The film does not fail to deliver all the way through .Definitely a must see for the Val Kilmer fan or to learn more about how corrupt the American prison system truly is..
It makes you see the unjust nature of the world we live in, and how the worst things can happen to the nicest of people.it will make everyone who watches it appreciate everything in their life so much more.I am surely glad that Val got a shot at playing a role in a film that got good reviews as well.
this movie is about person who kills intruder unintentionally and was sent to jail which was more like hell then how he survives in the jail where police controls the illegal activity (involving prisoners fight with each other ) with the help of his cell mate played by Val Kilmer(who has done an excellent acting) while his family falling apart ,pain and suffering shows no sign of ending and against all odds how he managed to get his life back is the driving source of the movie .
the best part of the movie, yeah of course, is the brilliant acting by Stephen and Val as well as other characters, the desperation of humanity, the struggling of reality,the hope of life, are so impressive that it terrifies the audience about prison life.
At the start of the film I thought it was another low budget film with Stephen Dorf,but Val Kilmer is in it too it was worth a look.Can I honestly say that the dialogue and character were as the rookie and veteran interactions brilliant.I must say the film had me in tears at some points due to the fact the film portrays the fear & anxiety of prison life created on screen.
I decided to watch this film after reading some great comments and ratings.Felon is about a man who is convicted of a crime and his time he servers whilst in America's prison facility.
Steven Dorff plays in his finest role to date as a man who, in the process of protecting his family, is torn from them and himself.This film brings to light a side of society that none too many are familiar with: The United States penal system and its subhuman politics of both inmate, and prison employee.The suspense will entrance you, the violence will shock you, and the realism will hopefully bring to light that this story unfolds in our country on a daily basis.
Just like those hero movies when you know the good guy would not stand a chance if anything at all would go a little wrong and the screenwriter would not be on his side, you feel it in your gut that this story would and could not end so well.Maybe in this whole thing lies the tragedy.
Am I the only one who watch this and though it was another Direct to DVD above average movie, damn, Val Kilmer was doing a lot of bad stuff theses days, i enjoy conspiracy but except that the past 2-3 years...
Val Kilmer once again shows great depth and deep knowledge of his character, and Marisol Nichols makes the most of a small but important role.The entire cast is excellent.
Although Stephen Dorff Is Excellent In His Role As The A Man Surviving To Get Back To His Family It Is Val Kilmer's Roll As The Anti-Hero That Makes This A Brilliant Movie ...
Stephen Dorff, a guy who already has the gritty look as soon as he walks into a frame, plays Wade Porter, a simple family man who is just starting out at life along with his wife (Marisol Nichols).
I don't normally think much of Val Kilmer, but here he plays his part well and you'll find you have sympathy for everyone here, even some people you think you may not normally like.All it all, Felon is a great little movie.
With its Heart in the right place but its head and body somewhere else, this is a well Acted Prison Movie that is arguably a Realistic look at the "Life" inside.
These Shaky Camera Shots are many and tend to upstage the more thoughtful and provocative parts.Not a bad Film and the always reliable Stephen Dorff does what He does, but Val Kilmer is the Acting Surprise here as a barely recognizable Sociopathic Mass Murderer with tender leanings and a passion for Philosophy.Realistic or not about Prison and its Microcosm and the Legal System, the Movies High Road gets lost among the Tattoos and Shaky, Showy, fight Scenes.
I have just finished watching Felon and come straight to you to urge you not to miss this very powerful drama.I thought that the acting was truly superb, particularly the three main characters played by Dorff, Kilmer & Perrineau, the script and cinematography was excellent and the storyline quite believable, particularly what life must be like in a maximum security prison.I would urge you to go and watch this superb piece, I promise that you will not be disappointed..
I went into the film not knowing anything but was pleasantly surprised by both the acting and the movie, i didn't recognise Val Kilmer but he was surprisingly excellent as John Smith as was Dorff and 24 fans Marisol Nichols (Nadia in season 6).
A great cast, fantastic storyline and simplistic yet stunning effects help make the movie one of the best of 2008.Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer are right on the money in the film especially Klimer who not only brings his own unique persona into the movie but also portrays a dark, troubled man seeking revenge.
Fellon was extremely well acted as well, Stephen Dorff was great as the man who gets his life completely upside down, Val kilmer's performance was a pleasant surprise and Harold Perrineau was outstanding as the sadistic guard Jackson.
Excellent movie that i would recommend everyone and anyone to watch to get a good look at the world of prison, and how easy it is to go there.