Felon

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Felon-480P

Felon-360P

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source: Felon

***warning spoilers*** Let's face it, in comparison to the other protagonists in this movie the burglar is the one with "less sin". He "only" wanted to steal some money. He broke into a house, didn't physically hurt a soul, except for a little push to clear the way so he could get the hell outta Dodge. What did the other guys do? Val kilmers character who is portraited as some kind of hero, killed entire families as he said himself. With "entire families" I guess that would include children as well…..what a nice guy. People who had done nothing to him except being related to a killer. Dorffs character ran after a fleeing, scared small time crook so he could beat the crap out of him. That's vindictive. How can he feel threatened by someone running AWAY from him and out of his house? Not to mention the guard who is in a league of his own. What a sadistic bastard! (at least they had a somewhat good black guard by his side, otherwise this movie could be accused of racism?) I know I'm being cynical and sarcastic but this movie really has a strange philosophy. But I guess that might be the point of it, to make you think. But to me you almost feel sympathetic to people you shouldn't feel sympathetic about. So the point of the movie: it is okay to use any kind of force, including killing, as long as you feel threatened or hurt. Val kilmers actions were understandable since hey, he had just lost his whole family. The burglars action is not okay since he did it out of "free will". No one, at least as far as we know, forced him to break into Dorffs house. Except maybe circumstances, maybe someone had done something "bad" to him too which would justify his actions as well… If circumstances were to excuse people's behavior even the guard would be forgiven, since the accident of his son had made him suffer. At times I think this movie has a double morality, 1)on one side it shows that NO ONE is pure and without sin. And that EVIL actions comes out of suffering, pain and unfortunate circumstances. Taking that a step further it would mean that no one is truly evil. 2)On the other side it kind of says that: there are some truly evil people, like the burglar, and the sadistic cop, that does evil stuff just for the hell of it, out of free will. These are the TRULY evil people who deserve to get rid of. The other ones like Dorff and Kilmer, are victims that are forced into it. They are not to blame and should be left alone. But if they would have shown scenes when Kilmer slaughtered that family we certainly would get a different opinion about him. This is confusing.. If you give a mass-murderer sufficient screening time he appears more sympathetic than a burglar. Since the mass-murderers actions aren't filmed but the burglars are. And the mass-murderer gets the chance to explain himself. This movie wants to have it both ways. It wants to both get into the psyche of criminals, to understand them and also "punish bad people". To be a "sly Stallone" type of movie. That's why it leaves you more confused than satisfied, even if that might not have been the point of the movie. If I'd rate something in this movie it would be more about the cinematography than the message, since I'm not quite sure what the message is. I think the movie got too repetitive after the prisoners transfer to "the yard". It was a cheap, boring set, and seeing fight after fight with skinny guys beating up 40 pounds heavier opponents got somewhat boring. To me it doesn't deserve an 8. This is more like a 6 or 7 to me.

Love, violence, violence, violence, love, violence and again love...usually this is the perfect formula for mass hypnosis. I mean, the movie starts well, the story is well written (altough it is far from realistic), well edited, well directed, well acted. This is the reason i gave it a 4. But the message, oh my god, the message is very problematic here. It is clear that violence is a downward spiral, and that only love can saves us from falling in it. Because hate is just the absence of love, just like darkness is the absence of light. And this movie treats this subject apparently pretty well, just until the end, when Kilmer's "hero like" voice sentences "Protects your family at all costs, even if you have to kill again...because if i would be forced i will kill the entire planet to defend mine". WHAAAAT???? Is this the final morale? To kill all other's families to defend yours...so that your family is more important that the other's families? If we would thinking like that it will surely be a disaster for everyone. But hey, this is exactly what the American government is trying to convince us to do. To think only at our asses (or American's asses in this case). We all know how important our families are for us, there is no need to remind it at all. I think that to defend my brother or my mother is just like the first Isaac Asimov's law. It is deep coded in me. I will surely give my life for them, and i want to believe this is true for every normal person on the planet. But "to defend them from who" is the real problem here. Because what i've seen, by now too many times, is that the enemies we are "forced" (like Kilmer's said) to face, most of the times, are not real at all. On the other hand, is it what happened right in this movie? Sry for bad English.

The family man Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is living the American Dream with his girlfriend Laura (Marisol Nichols) and their son Michael: they have a nice house, he has just raised a loan to make his company grow and they are going to get married. However their dream becomes a nightmare when Wade unintentionally kills a burglar that had broken into their house in the middle of the night on his lawn. He is sent to trial and accepts a deal proposed by the prosecutor, being sentenced to three years in prison. During the transportation, there is an incident in the bus and Wade is framed and sent to the maximum security wing under the command of the corrupt Lieutenant Jackson (Harold Perrineau). His cell-mate John Smith (Val Kilmer) that was sentenced to life revenging the death of his family befriends Wade and gives helpful advices and hope to Wade to return to his family. The good "Felon" is another movie that discloses the corruption and brutality in the American Penal system, where the rules of a civilized society are neither followed by the inmates nor by most of the security guards. The dramatic story is engaging, and it is great to see Val Kilmer having again a top-notch performance after a long period of weak movies. Stephen Dorff is also great in the role of a family man that is unfairly imprisoned for protecting his family and dehumanizes and desensitizes to survive in the prison. The unrealistic conclusion is commercial and moralist, reducing the power and impact of the plot. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Felon"

Felon is a moralistic movie about a guy that is sentenced to prison cause of some circumstance which is best described as 'being at the wrong place at the wrong time', together with an action that is very understandable, but very unfortunate. Most of it takes place in a US penal institution and i don't know enough about that to reflect on it being correct. It probably differs from state to state and from prison to prison and even from one part of a prison to another, but looking at the movies and documentaries about US penal institutions, its probably not far of. I wouldn't last a day if i were ever sent into one of those and i really sympathize with any person who is penalized because of an error, corruption, or some grey area that is judged hard but from what everyone thinks it wasn't that bad. That last thing is what this movie is about and without getting too deep into who is to blame for what, i would like to quote Dostojevski - i think- who said that 'you can judge any society by its prisoners'. The filmmakers obviously wanted to address this issue, since the movie is all about that and ends with 'in 2008 there are 2.3 million people in US prisons' It is appalling to think that a portion of these people are wrongfully committed. (probably 10's of thousands) So as far as the story goes; this is really worth a view. Acting is great, specially Val Kilmer who i hardly recognized, but plays magnificent. I cant think of anything bad to say about this movie. You have to see it. Its very sad that ones life can be ruined just in a second, by some coincidence. The movie ends well, so we can all sleep good, but its a movie. Most people that get in like that, never get out, partly because they don't know the scene, don't know how to fight in that world and if they do, they will never be the same again. The American penal system isn't made to put people back in society. On the contrary, it criminalizes people. Edit: 2019 I said i would never survive. Unfortunately i ended up in prison in 2012, for 3+ years. In NL, not US, but still. I survived. Don't ask... My respect for ppl that are not real criminals only increased due to this. I watched the movie again afterwards. Thank god i didnt have to fight for my life literally. But yea, the setting is pretty realistic apart from that. I could actually smell it again. Its a mix of fear and agression and sweat and farts and pee and poo and * and god knows what else. Most ppl keep some hygienic standards up, or try to. Some just lay in their own filth, which is shuffled and hosed out once a year or smth. Not a place you want to go. But i guess it would be good for everyone to experience it for a month or smth. If not for a lesson in life, power of the state and such, to build up some mental strength and appreciate a decent cup of coffee. What can i say? I never thought i would end up there. Got through using my wits and had to bluff 2 times to get the predators off my back. Used my conviction as a deterent too. I guess im traumatised. Ironically, it was trauma that got me in there to begin with. Not illogical i guess. Its the dehumanisation that gets to you more than anything i think. (unless ofc you literally have to fight for you life) I dont think any movie can ever capture it for what it is. Most is boredom i guess. Sitting staring at a locked door. hour after hour. day after day. year after year. No you cannot imagine what it is, unless youve been there. Similarly i cannot imagine what it is to know youll be there for the rest of your life. Or waiting to be executed. I dont even want to think about it anymore. Dont even presume you can approach knowing what it is. You dont.