Felon (2008) Synopsis:
Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) lives a modest but comfortable life with a young family, a fledgling business and a promising future ahead.But in an instant, his life, and that of everyone he loves is threatened and possibly gone forever when he’s convicted of killing a man while protecting his fiancée, Laura (Marisol Nichols) and their three year old son. In just 24 hours, the unimaginable conditions of a new world order begin to take hold. Violence is the answer to everything and, even for Laura, what it means to fight for your life - alone - becomes all too real.
Sentenced to Corcoran State Prison, Wade ends up in a hellish facility run by Lt. William Jackson (Harold Perrineau), known as the SHU (Security Housing Unit) where the inmates are brutal but far less deadly than the guards. His cellmate, John Smith (Val Kilmer) is a stone cold prison legend, a ‘lifer’ and a man once devastated so completely that he has nothing left to lose and acts accordingly. An unlikely bond develops between the two men as Wade struggles to survive, having to put his own life - and the possibility of ever being freed - in relentless jeopardy.
Felon (2008) Movie Review:
Every type of story about life in prison has pretty much been told on the screen and on HBO with the brilliant Oz. Felon is a film that takes an in depth look at the hardship of a scary and violent prison system and is told well by its ex-stuntman turned writer/director Ric Roman Waugh. Though Felon divulges in areas of prison life that have been told before, it does bog itself down with countless clichés, such as a gang rape or the protagonist planning a massive escape for the walls of the penitentiary.
Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is a hard-working middle class man that has his construction business thriving, a beautiful supporting wife named Laura (Marisol Nichols) and lovable young son named Michael (Vincent Miller). However, his life changes when hit is charged with involuntary manslaughter after he hits a thief with a baseball bat on his front lawn. Taking a plea deal under the advisement of his attorney, Wade is sentenced to three years at California’s Corcoran State Prison. Wade is placed in the hostile manslaughter unit of the prison under the eye of the aggressive Lt. Jackson (Harold Perrineau) and his team of officers (Nick Chinlund, Nate Parker). During their time outside in the confined, concreted yard, the prisoners are instigated to fighting like gladiators, while Jackson and his guards place bets and play instigators. Having to fight for survival as well as shaving his head as acceptance by the skinheads in the prison, Laura begins to question his nature. Wanting nothing more than to get out, Wade finds a mentor and friendship in his wise cellmate John Smith (Val Kilmer), who knowledge of the system sheds more lights on the violence and politics involved.
Ric Roman Waugh does not venture into areas that most prison films stumble upon. A character like John Smith is given sympathy despite being a vicious killer; however the character is given balanced depth and is acceptable as a mentor to Wade. Wade is the typical good-family man that is changed by the brutal world of prison and though the villain of the film is Lt. Jackson, Waugh also gives ample development to him as a dedicated father. The development of the characters is what propels Felon in being just not another prison movie showing that life in jail is hell. The film is paced well and extremely violent at times. The downside is some of the choices towards the conclusion, but most of Waugh choices are clear and contrite.
Stephen Dorff is solid as Wade in one the best performances of his career. Dorff has been cast mostly as a villain and a hot-head throughout his career, but as Wade he transforms from hard-working family man into a violent pawn in prison for Jackson’s games. As Jackson, Harold Perrineau returns to the prison atmosphere, after numerous seasons as the storyteller on HBO’s Oz. Perrineau makes creates an effective balance of sincerity and degradation as the complex Lt. Jackson. His fellow officers include pivotal supporting turns by The Great Debater’s Nate Parker and Con Air’s Nick Chinlund. Sam Shepard also has a small, but pivotal role as a friend to Val Kilmer’s John Smith. The standout of the cast is undoubtedly Kilmer, who murmurs and speaks in a low wisdom as John Smith, the chilling and educated cellmate of Dorff’s Wade. Kilmer gained an ample amount of weight for the role and also divulged himself into a brawny goatee, numerous tattoos and thick rimmed glasses.
As prison films go, audiences have been treated to masterpieces like The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke and character works like Escape from Alcatraz and Murder in The First. Though Felon does have elements that audiences have seen before, it works in terms of being a character study in a vicious world from writer/director Ric Roman Waugh.
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Felon (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson
11th October, 2008 
