Felon (film)
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''Felon'' is a 2008 American
prison film A prison film is a film genre concerned with prison life and often prison escape. These films range from acclaimed dramas examining the nature of prisons, such as ''Cool Hand Luke'', '' Midnight Express'', '' Brubaker'', '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ...
written and directed by
Ric Roman Waugh Ric Roman Waugh (born February 20, 1968) is an American film director, writer, producer, actor, and former stuntman. He is known for his work in '' Felon'' (2008), ''Snitch'' (2013), and '' Shot Caller'' (2017). He wrote and directed ''Angel Has ...
. The film stars
Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...
,
Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
and
Harold Perrineau Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Stevens ...
. The film tells the story of the family man who ends up in
state prison This is a list of U.S. state prisons (2010) (not including federal prisons or county jails in the United States or prisons in U.S. territories): * Alabama * Alaska * Arizona * Arkansas * California * Colorado * Connecticut * Delaware ...
after he kills an intruder. The story is based on events that took place in the 1990s at the notorious California State Prison, Corcoran. The film was released in the United States on July 18, 2008.


Plot

Wade Porter is a blue-collar worker living with his fiancée Laura and their son Michael. One night, they hear a burglar in the house while they're sleeping. Wade chases him out of the house and hits him in the head with a baseball bat, unintentionally killing him on his lawn. For attacking an unarmed intruder after he exited the house, he is arrested and charged with murder. At the urging of his
public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...
, he enters a plea of
no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...
in exchange for a reduced sentence of three years for
involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...
. During the bus ride to prison, Danny Sampson (
Chris Browning Christopher Jay Browning (born March 8, 1964) is an American television and film actor, known for film work and character roles. Career Browning began his acting career in 1987, at age 22 or 23, with a sitcom television series. Due to his drug ...
), leader of the local
Aryan Brotherhood The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate which is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern ...
, stabs a man and hides the knife with a young Aryan member named Snowman who is 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 stabbing can be investigated. Lieutenant Jackson interrogates Wade about the stabbing but he doesn't cooperate with the investigation. Jackson decides to send Wade to the Security Housing Unit (SHU) where he is the commanding officer. John Smith is serving a life sentence at
San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...
and is transferred to Wade's prison, becoming his cellmate in the Security Housing Unit (SHU). Inmates in the SHU are under 23-hour lock-down and not permitted to have visitors for the first three months. Wade realizes that the daily hour of yard time consists of inmate fights, on which the officers bet. At different points throughout the film, it's shown that not all of the officers are in favor of Jackson's methods. 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. After Wade refuses to identify Sampson as the perpetrator of the murder on the bus, Jackson falsely testifies that he was an accessory to the murder, resulting in an additional three years being added to his existing sentence. Laura, at the encouragement of her mother, breaks off the relationship with Wade through a letter. Broken and enraged, Wade resorts to fighting the prisoners in exchange for protection from Sampson and the Aryan Brotherhood. After talking to John, Wade devises a plan that can reveal the truth about the violence in the prison, and possibly get him released. During the next yard time, Wade refuses to kill an inmate after defeating him in a fight. A furious Jackson enters the yard and prepares to attack Wade, but Smith kills him by severing his
femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery or profunda femoris artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the fem ...
and throat with a concealed
shiv The word Shiv or shiv may refer to: People with the name * Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a West Indies cricketer nicknamed Shiv Arts, entertainment, and media * Shiv, a fictional location in Magic: The Gathering, see Dominaria * Shiv, a villain in the ...
. Another yard officer then shoots Smith, who dies from his wounds. With the help of a retired correctional officer at Smith's former prison, the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, and Laura, the corruption of the prison officers is exposed and Wade's additional sentence is commuted. He is released after 15 months in prison and reunited with his family.


Cast

*
Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...
as Wade Porter *
Marisol Nichols Marisol Nichols (born November 2, 1973) is an American actress, known for her roles as Nadia Yassir on the Fox series '' 24'' and Hermione Lodge on the CW drama series '' Riverdale''. Early life Nichols was born in the Rogers Park neighbor ...
as Laura Porter *Vincent Miller as Michael Porter *
Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
as John Smith *
Harold Perrineau Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Stevens ...
as Lieutenant Bill Jackson *
Greg Serano Greg Serano (born August 7, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his role of Pablo Betart on ''Wildfire (2005 TV series), Wildfire'' and as Enrique Salvatore in ''Legally Blonde''. He played a role in ''Power (TV series), Power'' as A ...
as Officer Diaz *
Johnny Lewis Jonathan Kendrick Lewis (October 29, 1983 – September 26, 2012), also credited as Johnny K. Lewis, was an American film and television actor. He played Kip "Half-Sack" Epps in the first two seasons of the FX (TV channel), FX series ''Sons of A ...
as Jake 'Snowman' *
Nate Parker Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ''Fe ...
as Officer James Collins *
Nick Chinlund Zareh Nicholas Chinlund (born November 18, 1961) is an American actor. Early life and education Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, New York in order to participate in ...
as Sergeant Roberts *
Anne Archer Anne Archer (born August 24, 1947) is an American actress. Archer was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971, and in the year following, appeared in her feature film debut ''The Honkers'' (1972). She had supporting roles in ''Cancel My Reservation'' (1 ...
as Maggie *
Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...
as Gordon *
Chris Browning Christopher Jay Browning (born March 8, 1964) is an American television and film actor, known for film work and character roles. Career Browning began his acting career in 1987, at age 22 or 23, with a sitcom television series. Due to his drug ...
as Danny Sampson *Jake Walker as Warden Frank Harris


Production

It is set and filmed in
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
in 24 days on October 9 and November 2, 2007.


Reception

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.45/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Felon'' offers a rather hackneyed depiction of prison life, but is held together by a pleasantly complex plot and solid performances from Kilmer and Dorff." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The film had a limited screening in the US.


Home media

DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on August 12, 2008, and also Region 2 in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2008, it was distributed by
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
.


References


External links

* * {{Ric Roman Waugh 2008 crime drama films 2000s prison films American crime drama films American gang films American prison films Corcoran, California 2000s English-language films Films directed by Ric Roman Waugh Films shot in New Mexico Stage 6 Films films 2000s American films