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SYNOPSIS:
Val Kilmer (Columbus Day, Conspiracy), Stephen Dorff (Black
Water Transit, World Trade Center), Harold Perrineau, Jr.
(The Matrix Revolutions, TV's "Lost") and Sam Shepard
(The Accidental Husband, Stealth) star in the high-action
and edge-of-your-seat prison film - FELON - the story of a
family man who is convicted of murder for killing an intruder
who enters his home, threatening the lives of his wife and
son. As he struggles to survive the violent penal system which
includes a maximum-security state prison in which a corrupt
lieutenant tries to maintain power and order, even if it means
crossing the line. Also starring Anne Archer (End Game, Man
of the House).
Having
to spend the next three years inside a maximum security facility
where the rules of society no longer apply, Wade (played by
Dorff) is forced to share a cell with a notorious mass murderer
(Kilmer) and subjected to brutal beatings orchestrated by
the sadistic head prison guard (Harold Perrineau). Wade soon
realizes he's in for the fight of his life and must become
the toughest FELON of them all if he's to survive the block.
For what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger. And in state
prison, only the strongest will survive.
MOVIE
REVIEW
California born Ric Roman Waugh was involved in movies
like The Crow (1994), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) and The
One (2001). When he first started out in showbiz, he also
worked on movies like Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Total Recall
(1990) and Universal Soldier (1992). If there’s one
thing common amongst the abovementioned flicks, it’d
be the testosterone action sequences featured in all of them.
Now, Roman Waugh was a stuntman on these movies, and who would
have thought that he’d become a director himself to
helm this recommended prison drama?
Stephen
Dorff (Blade, World Trade Center) plays a nice and caring
family man with who loses everything when he unintentionally
kills a petty burglar who breaks into his house. As fate would
have it, he becomes convicted for involuntary manslaughter,
and has to spend three years away from the comfort and norms
of the society in a security housing unit where things get
brutal and bloody every other day.
A
felon is a villainous criminal guilty of a major crime, but
you’d be thinking to yourself, how is our protagonist
a felon? For someone who has a great future with his wife
and child ahead of him, why would he be labeled as a felon?
For someone who is morally upright and a Mr. Nice Guy to begin
with, why would he be seen as a felon by the society? For
someone who doesn’t resort to violence unnecessarily,
why should he be imprisoned as a felon with other hard hitting
criminals? Director writer Roman Waugh has wonderfully highlighted
this dramatic plot and made this gritty and well made movie
that unfortunately didn’t make it to the theatres locally.
The
first thing that you will not miss is the powerhouse performance
by the leads. Other than Dorff’s commanding presence
as a misjudged man forced into circumstances by the American
law system, you also get a, well; we hate to use the term,
fat Val Kilmer (Déjà Vu, Alexander) as a mass
murderer Dorff shares a cell with. Kilmer may have been appealing
as the Dark Knight once (Batman Forever, 1995), but his turn
as a long imprisoned convict is far from alluring. Instead,
you get a weighty (pun not intended) performance that manages
to touch your senses without being over melodramatic.
The
104 minute picture is a taut and tense viewing experience,
thanks to the tightly paced script and also the violently
riveting scenes in the cell. With Roman Waugh’s experience
as a stuntman, he should have no problems delivering the stuff.
You’d probably judge him by the no brainer movies he
was involved in, but we can assure you that this stirringly
exhilarating movie delivers on both substance and action.
Make sure you don’t miss it on the small screen.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This
Code 3 DVD contains a 13 minute feature “The
Shark Tank: An Inside Look at Felon”, where
Roman Waugh talks about the two year process of writing the
script, of which nine-tenth was spent on researching to ensure
the realism when it gets presented on screen. Included in
the disc are Trailers of other Sony releases
like Hancock and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
disc’s visual transfer retains the grittiness of the
movie, and there are 5.1 Dolby Digital English and Portuguese,
as well as Dolby Surround Thai and Spanish audio tracks to
choose from.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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