Felon Movie Review

Powerful. Emotional. Justice. Friendship. Love. Hatred.

These are the words that kept spinning through my head as I watched 'Felon'.

The story stars Stephen Dorff who plays a family-orientated hardworking man with a bright future who killed an intruder into his home by accident and gets incarcerated as a result.

While his fiancee who is with a struggle to make ends meet outside as a result of losing his income, Stephen fights his own battle within the prison walls struggling to please the gangs and pander to the whims of twisted tyrannic prison officers.

Val Kilmer plays a strong quiet man with an imposing presence and a depressing past. He becomes the mentor of Stephen Dorff and teaches him the rules of survival within the prison walls.

If this reads like a dramatized movie plot to you, let me assure you that it is nothing like that. 'Felon' is in my opinion one of the most realistic portrayals of prison movies and there is nothing glorifying nor 'gung-ho' about the situation inside.

The director/author Ric Roman Waugh apparently spent 2 years researching and writing the script for Felon. He spoke to many prison officers and inmates and has made a conscientious effort to make everything as realistic as possible. I believe him. The movie feels a lot like a documentary and many times you can get so involved in the movie that you keep thinking that "this could happen to me". This is an amazing director who has done a terrific terrific job.

Stephen Dorff plays his role with great passion and conviction. He is an amazing actor and I will be watching out for his name in the future. The transformation in Stephen is painfully apparent as he turns from a law-abiding citizen with a loving family to a wounded and frustrated prisoner who fights to survive within the prison walls who nearly lost the support of his beloved fiancee.

I must also mention that Val Kilmer's performance was very convincing. He exudes a strong silent charisma that makes you fear and like the man at the same time. I believe that the director made the perfect choice in choosing Kilmer for this role.

'Felon' describes prison-yard politics in which membership in a gang is necessary for survival.

The saddest scenes depict the deterioration of Stephen Dorff's character's relationship and his wife as years are added to his sentence and the chances of an imminent reunion fade. Because Dorff can't bring himself to describe the horrors of prison life, his wife never fully realizes and appreciates that his misadventures are not his fault. As their finances dwindle, she sells the house and moves in with her mother, who urges her to move on and abandon the relationship.

Watching how the prison officers rule over the prison like their own little kingdom is infuriating and at times you wonder who the real criminals are. The word 'felon' now holds new meaning for me after watching the show, and I expect it would to you too.

I would strongly recommend anybody to watch this movie.

To be honest, I wasn't able to find out a lot of information about this magnificent director so I suspect he hasn't had much experience being a director. Further checking showed that he has done a lot more stunts than writing and directing! But that certainly hasn't stopped him from making a great film!

Read an exclusive interview with Ric Roman Waugh on the film Felon here.

Stephan Dorff plays Wade Porter - the law-abiding citizen with a bright future who gets incarcerated as the result of accidentally killing a man who intruded his home.

Stephen Dorff has become one of the most respected young actors in Hollywood. His recent credits include Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (2006), Robert Ludlum's Covert One: The Hades Factor (2006) (TV), .45 (2006) with Milla Jovovich, Shadowboxer (2005) with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren and the Disney thriller Cold Creek Manor (2003) with Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone for director Mike Figgis. He also starred in Scott Kalvert's street gang drama Deuces Wild (2002) for MGM and as the champion of bad cinema in the John Waters comedy Cecil B. DeMented (2000), co-starring Melanie Griffith. Dorff has an impressive list of screen credits, chief among them New Line's Blade (1998), in which he starred opposite Wesley Snipes and won the "Best Villain" at both the MTV Movie and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. He also co-starred with Susan Sarandon in HBO's Earthly Possessions (1999) (TV), based on Anne Tyler's novel about an unlikely romance between a young, fumbling bank robber and his hostage. Additional credits include Entropy (1999/I), Blood and Wine (1996) with Jack Nicholson and opposite Harvey Keitel in City of Industry (1997). He starred as the fifth Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe, in Iain Softley's Backbeat (1994) and as the notorious Candy Darling in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996). Chosen from over 2000 young men from around the world, he auditioned and won the coveted role of PK in John G. Avildsen's The Power of One (1992) in 1992. For his performance he was awarded the Male Star of Tomorrow Award from the National Association of Theater Owners.

Val Kilmer plays convincingly as John Smith - the strong silent mentor of Stephen Dorff who has a dark history of murdering 18 people.

Born in Los Angeles, California. Studied at Hollywood's Professional's School and, in his teens, entered Juilliard's drama program. His professional acting career began on stage, and he still participates in theater; he played Hamlet at the 1988 Colorado Shakespeare Festival. His film debut was in the 1984 spoof Top Secret! (1984), wherein he starred as blond rock idol Nick Rivers. He was in a number of films throughout the 1980s, including the 1986 smash Top Gun (1986). Despite his obvious talent and range, it wasn't until his astonishingly believable performance as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991) that the world sat up and took notice. Kilmer again put his good baritone to use in the movie, performing all of the concert pieces. Since then, he has played two more American legends, Elvis Presley in True Romance (1993) and Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993). In July 1994, it was announced that Kilmer would be taking over the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne from Michael Keaton.

Harold Perrineau plays the twisted prison officer who appears to be the perfect gentleman but is in actuality a tyrannic beast who makes life difficult for those incarcerated in his prison.

Harold Perrineau, Jr. (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor, known for the roles of Michael Dawson in the U.S. television series Lost, Link in The Matrix films and games, Augustus Hill in the American television series Oz (his character also serves as the narrator for the series), and Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

The beautiful Marisol Nichols plays a great supporting role as Stephen Dorff's fiancee in the show who has to cope with the stress of her fiance's incarceration, uncertainty of their future, looking after their child and the unrelenting financial woes.

Marisol Nichols' distinguished credits demonstrate her versatility both in film and television. She has quickly become one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood, working with some of the most prominent actors and directors in the business. The recipient of a Golden Eagle Award for Most promising Actor or Actress, Nichols also earned an ALMA nomination for Outstanding Actress for her starring role in The Princess & the Marine (2001) (TV).