Felon tells the story of a hard-working man Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) who has a thriving construction business, and lives a comfortable life with girlfriend Laura (Marisol Nichols) and their young son Michael (Vincent Miller). Porter’s happy existence turns to a nightmare when he chases and unintentionally kills a burglar who has broken into his home. In this type of situation the law states that you must physically protect yourself from robbers within the confines of the home. Porter killed the burglar outside his house and is summarily arrested and charged with second degree murder. To avoid the mandatory 15-year life sentence, Porter reluctantly accepts a deal from the district attorney and is sentenced to three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
During transportation to the prison, Porter witnesses a killing by an inmate and has the murder weapon placed on him. If Porter informs, he’ll be dead for sure, so he keeps quiet and is eventually placed in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) a maximum security wing run by the corrupt Lt. Jackson (Harold Perrineau), a sadist who makes a game of pitting prisoners against each other, like gladiators, in the exercise yard. Jackson calls time out by shooting them and sending the injured prisoners off to the infirmary.
Porter is faced with bloodthirsty inmates, sadistic prison guards, and is in danger at all times. He also had to deal with his cell mate, John Smith (Val Kilmer), a mass-murderer who is notorious for inciting riots at every prison he’s been sent to. Between the unflinching savagery that happens behind prison walls and the toll his incarceration is taking on his relationship with Laura, can Porter survive this experience and return to his family, or will the intense pressures of prison life completely break him?
Felon is based on actual events at happened in California’s Corcoran State Prison. It has a run time of 104 minutes and is rated 16LPV. This Blu-ray release presents the film re-mastered in High Definition (HD) and comes with a single special feature:
- The Shark Tank: An Inside Look at Felon — contains interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
Felon is also BD-Live enabled, allowing for interactive viewing and for the download of additional content over the Internet using a BD-Live equipped Blu-ray player or a Sony PlayStation 3. BD-Live is selectable from the main menu.
Felon was kindly supplied for review by Nelmari Claassens, SterKinekor Entertainment Marketing Manager for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Go to www.bluraydisc.co.za to view the latest Blu-ray news, reviews and competitions featured on SterKinekor Entertainment’s newsletter. Sony Pictures can be found on the Web at www.sonypictures.com.
