Felon
My roommate picked this up from blockbuster - I doubt I would have rented it myself. I saw Val Kilmer and who I thought to have been Baz Luhrmann’s Mercutio on the cover. Val had some badass facial hair and that’s ultimately what won me over on this day off.
At first I thought I might have fucked up. The first several scenes, the typical “how I got to prison” sequence, where Stephen Dorff accidentally kills a home invader… Those were the cheesiest, hack bullshit scenes I’ve been eye-raped by in a while.
But, I thought to myself, wait for Kilmer.
And then there he was. All grizzled and beautiful. And then - what? no way… Sam Fucking Shepherd was right there with him!
Sam.

Fucking.

Shepherd!

That’s really when the movie starts. We learn that Kilmer’s character, John Smith (i don’t get it either), is being transferred to another facility - we can assume it’s the one Stephen Dorff’s going to.
I dug the realism of the procedural shit. I ain’t never been in jail but I’ve experienced courtroom situations and have friends who used to be correctional officers. The language, the attitudes - most of it was in pretty good shape.
So, Dorff gets thrown in das Slam - we meet some Aryan Brotherhood fucks - see a lovely little gang murder (I should carry a sharpened toothbrush around at all times, I think) and then we’re in jail.
Dorff done a pretty good job - his acting and the cutting style employed did a good job of making a small amount of time feel long and excruciating and — jail-ish? But other than a short sequence or two his early scenes are standard prison movie scenes of the innocent guy locked up.
Then, finally, Val Kilmer moves into Dorff’s cell.
Here’s the funny thing about Felon. John Smith is not only the worst-named but also easily the worst written character in this straight-to-dvd release. But Kilmer shits magic. The textures and movements and looks and gritty voice he brings into that cell make the character jump off the screen. Smith, as written, Is a stock veteran lifer who quotes random bullshit and dispenses BS wisdom like Pez. But Kilmer made him so real that (and this is how it should be kids) it didn’t matter that the advice really has little value - what matters is that Smith believed every fucking word of it. The second part of the funny thing about Felon is Harold Perrineau as Lt. Jackson, the leader of the prison guards. Jackson is the Best-written character in this - and it Perrineau seemed to be doing a great job - but the character,overall,came off as kinda silly. I think it’s because director Waugh slacked off in his direction of Perrneau, trusting his writing to care of everything - too bad he was wrong. Perrineau is a damn good actor - But he’s a theatre guy. You gots to tone them motherfuckers down. They ain’t all Brando.
The drama between Dorff and his wife, Marisol Nichols, unfolds in a way that feels very real - they’re concerns are those which are legitimate for a real world couple when the bread-winner suddenly is removed from the equation. And the relationship between Dorff and Kilmer grows in a slow and tension-filled way that’s pretty cool. Even when Kilmer helps Dorff’s character you are aware that he has his own motives and isn’t simply doing it because “He’s my friend”. Kilmer already played that guy

and I think it unlikely he’ll do it again.
Then the climax shows up. And it’s a little too Hollywood but the acting is so great I didn’t give a sticky fuck.
The scene between Sam Shepherd and Dorff… Shepherd is a god among gods among actors and writers. I love that old fucker. I was drooling Shepherd was so dead nuts on in that scene.
The huge negatives are,as always,not enough Val Kilmer or Sam Shepherd. I understand why this movie was straight-to-dvd - its a hard sale. Prison movies always are. What was the last one to turn a buck theatrically? Shawshank Redemption? And what was the first one to make money….. probably Shawshank Redemption.
So, there it is - watch it for the old guys - if you can last through the bullshit in the early scenes.
Oh, and the fights were really cool and there’s one blood effect that was so badass I made happy in my pants.













