Felon (2008)

Wow. I had never heard so much as a passing mention of this film before, but decided to check it out more or less because Val Kilmer's name is on the cover; turns out the movie is actually really solid for a (DTV ?).

Stephen Dorff puts in a great performance as a family man who's lost everything, doing what it takes to survive in the pen, and beefs himself up to the point where you could believe his character could be beating the shit out of various ethnic-type inmates. Harold Perrineau does more than just play the evil warden; there's layers to his character you wouldn't expect in what seems like such a cut and dry prison drama, and of course.. Val always delivers. His world-weary mass murderer, while a bit of a stereotype (the lone wolf lifer helping the "innocent" new guy learn the ropes) is still a good performance and he does the most possible with the the part.

All in all, I was very suprised and impressed with how good this movie actually was. Maybe it's just another case of zero-expectation bearing good results, but I'd recommend the shit out of it to anyone who enjoys the ol' prison dramas. I mean, this isn't Shawshank or anything, but certainly leaps and bounds better than I had imagined. At the very least, it'll make you think twice about cracking that burglar over the head with your Louisville Slugger.

Maybe it's just because I'm so used to Kilmer being great in his roles, but Dorff was the standout in this film for me. But Maybe Maybe it's because I've only really seen him in things like, oh, Blade and Space Truckers.. had no idea the guy can do some real acting when he wants. I'll agree not all the non-prison stuff holds up (oh, the kid wants to know where daddy is, oh the stepmom isn't down with skinheads), but some of it really works too (everything with Perrineau at/around the hospital).

You're right though, the wife is ridiculous, but she was cute so I didn't mind the screentime. Unlike the kid. Out of everyone who needed a shanking in that film..