Felon (2008)

A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.

Director:

Ric Roman Waugh

Writer:

Ric Roman Waugh

Stars:

Stephen Dorff, Marisol Nichols, Vincent Miller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Dorff	...	Wade Porter
Marisol Nichols	...	Laura Porter
Vincent Miller	...	Michael Porter
Anne Archer	...	Maggie
Larnell Stovall	...	Viper
Val Kilmer	...	John Smith
Sam Shepard	...	Gordon
Johnny Lewis	...	Snowman
Harold Perrineau	...	Lt. Jackson
Shawn Prince	...	Todd Jackson
Chris Browning	...	Danny Samson
Nick Chinlund	...	Sgt. Roberts
Greg Serano	...	Officer Diaz
Jake Walker	...	Warden Harris
Nate Parker	...	Officer Collins

Storyline

The family man Wade Porter is living the American Dream with his girlfriend Laura 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. His cell-mate John Smith 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.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | nightmare | male rear nudity | threatened with knife | fbi agent | 

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Taglines:

No Rules. No Hope. No Way Out.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal violence, pervasive language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 July 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Criminal

Filming Locations:

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stage 6 Films, Tooley Productions, Pantry Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Dorff sustained two concussions during the production secondary to performing his own fight sequences.

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Goofs

Towards the beginning of the movie as Wade is speaking to his Public Defender she mentions that the bail is set at $1M dollars and whether he had $1M dollars to put up as collateral. In reality he would only have to put up 10% which would have been $100,000.

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Quotes

John Smith: When your life is defined by a single action, it changes the concept of time.

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Connections

Referenced in Impossible Dreams (2011)

User Reviews

Genius

Let me say first off that I'm not into that whole action-thriller-nail biting-under ware staining kinda movie....which is OK because this film is more of a drama than anything else. It kinda reminded me of "The Shawshank Redemption" (another great movie) with Stephen Dorff being Tim Robbins and Val Kilmer being Morgan Freeman (the comparison is a little bit forced but still valid with the two movies plots being somewhat similar). The movie delivers a very diverse emotional palette, with tear breaking scenes all the way to explicit hardcore violence thanks to incredible acting by Dorff, Kilmer and Perrineau, truly bringing their characters to life. All in all, one of the best action dramas i've seen.....definitely a must see movie.