Boobirt
Stylish but barely mediocre overall
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Richard Dominguez
OMG What A Great Movie ... I Never Heard Of It And It Took Me Completely By Surprise ... 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 ... The Movie Closes And I Am Left With A Sadness That Is Contrary To The Type Of Movie That It Is ... And That Is A Testament To The Script ... Hard Yet Loving, Merciful Yet Unforgiving, Guilty Yet Innocent ... Felon Reminds Us That The Only Devils Live In Our Hearts And Minds ... It's Greatest Lesson Is That We Can All Rise Above Who We Are ... Shawshank Redemption Is The Last Time A Prison Film Has Moved Me Like This
bowmanblue
I read on an internet message board that someone said about 'Felon' and how it's "The best film ever to go straight to DVD." Well, I'm not sure it's the best ever, but I kind of know where that quote came from. It is damn good. However, it is also very BLEAK. Wow, is it depressing from time to time. It is dark, gritty, nasty, sad, frustrating and then all of those again.It tells the story of a decent family man who (sort of) accidentally kills a burglar one night and gets sent to prison. There he must learn the inner workings of the new 'society' he finds himself in. Many people may draw parallels with the excellent 'Shawshank Redemption.' Yes, they are both about similar subject matter, but they're both very different. Felon uses a lot of hand-held camera-work, giving it a deliberately amateur 'documentary' feel to it, which adds to the realism.Just like Shawshank, Felon has no 'weak links' when it comes to its actors. 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. It probably should have got a full theatrical release, but its sombre tone may well alienate the general populous. If you're in the mood for something dark then you'll probably appreciate this.
Armand
a film about prison life who has a high ambition than be only story about a social circle. a touching film for the message and for touching moments. a film about details because its subject is not exactly the sin but the need to discover the world better . and that fact transforms it in a version of The Cout of Monte Cristo . and a surprise because not the violence defines it, not the brutal language or the strong scenes but the delicacy of hope, the courage to fight.and that fact does it different. maybe not special because the genre has its public, the actors, real impressive in this movie, are defines but others roles. but it must see it maybe for discover a different Stephen Dorff who explores in inspired manner the nuances of his character and for Val Kilmer in a rare role. a film of details. that could be the best definition in this case.
jasonb7772002
This is my second official review of a movie on this website. I felt driven to do it, like I did my first one, but for truly opposite reasons. The first review I did was for a really crappy movie that I would not want anyone else to waste their time on, that I gave a 1 because there was no 0 option. Now, with this movie, I wanted to give it a 10, but I felt compelled to be 100 percent honest with my soul. I also wanted to write this review to encourage everyone to watch the special feature, inside the shark tank, because it adds to the realism of the movie. I watched it afterwards, but I may have given the movie a 10 if I had watched it before the movie. That's the only reason I clicked the contains spoiler tab, because it may or may not spoil it for you. The acting was awesome, but I seriously admired Val Kilmer's performance in this movie. I've seen some really great Kilmer films, and some not so great, but this truly was one of his best performances.
