Felony (2014)

Perfectly adorable

From my favorite movies..

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

After a few drinks celebrating not being killed during a bust, a police detective clips a cyclist with his car, rendering the young rider into a coma. Covering up the facts of the accident, with help from a superior, his conscience starts to attack both his state of mind, and that of his life at home. Something which is noticed by an up-coming young detective...Ooh, the agony, the moral conundrum. It's pretty much a morality play, one that is very well mounted by the makers. Written and starring Joel Edgerton, it also stars Tom Wilkinson, Jai Courtney and Melissa George. After a quick-fire opening the pic settles into a brooding sense of emotional torture, a slow burn approach that casts caustic eyes over police cover ups and the folly of the human condition. A potential romantic thread feels unnecessary, while some of the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, but with Wilkinson shining, Mark Wareham's photography the same, it's a better than average morally tinged drama. Though the ending will infuriate some... 6/10

What is the problem with making a decent film in this country? I started watching this movie and it seemed as though I was in for a decent watch. The camera work - the direction - the acting - even the script - seemed good. Then I realised that there was to be absolutely no depth to the narrative. No plot. It was 90 minutes of grown men wasting my time - wrangling about this? So these filmmakers are going to take up an hour and a half of my life because some guy clipped a paperboy on his way home from a pub? That's the movie? Thats it? I mean I know if you hit someone - it's no joke - but you're going to base an ENTIRE feature length film on this? Couldn't these bloody useless cops be out catching ACTUAL criminals? You have movies about ACTUAL STUFF out there - and this is our Australian level of contribution? This was so utterly lame - so clichéd and predictable. You have the cop who has the crisis of faith and starts going to the hospital to visit the sick kid - you have the old cop who does a favour for a mate - you have the guy who's life is turned upside down - you have the stoic Indian woman hoping against hope in her hospital vigil - you have journalists and helicopters hovering around a kid who's fallen off his bike? Gimme a break will ya? Why can't you people make a film Australians can be proud of? No wonder the moment an Australian artist has a hit - the first thing they do is bail to another country! Absolutely horrible. Horrible...

Another one of the recent spat of Australian films that have failed to find an audience at home despite good reviews, Joel Edgerton scripted and Matthew Saville directed Felony is a frustrating experience due to it being a film that constantly threatens to become something powerful, yet is consistently bought down back to a level that makes it easy to see why people failed to fork out the cash to see a tale that isn't overly original or as effective as it wants to be.Starting out in a hugely promising fashion, Felony looks likely to be one of those searing Australian dramas in the vein of Animal Kingdom or even Saville's own under-seen gem Noise, yet quickly descends into a procession of seen before events that culminate in a fairly unimpressive ending. The central scenario that Edgerton and Saville create is an intriguing one and a ripe potential idea and it's clear that the idea was developed first and the strands that follow afterwards and the film just can't keep up its beginning pace that sees some smart scripting and direction take place. You'll be undoubtedly hooked as these detectives look to cover up a shocking accident and thanks to some fine acting the film remains viable despite it's failures.Edgerton remains a solid if unspectacular core to the film but the continued emergence of Jai Courtney and the ever good work of Tom Wilkinson (here called in to ad gravitas to a film that needed the weight) really brings the film to life. Courtney does some fine work as young detective Jim, even though he is saddled to the films horrid and awkward love story but it really is Wilkinson that steals this show. Wilkinson is both sympathetic, calculated and snarling as old time detective Summer. Wilkinson bites into the script and comes out on fire, it's a joy to see such a veteran of the industry come to our fair shores and show us how it's done and he clearly had a blast with this character. Director Saville also comes up trumps here despite some narrative flaws in the story and his direction honed in film and quality TV like The Slap has clearly set him up well.While many bemoan local audiences failing to support home grown films, if the films are like Felony there's no reason why we should be forking out hard earned money on films like this. There not bad films but there films that aren't likely to cause people much excitement as truth be told, it's nothing we haven't been witness to before and Felony just doesn't do enough to leap from the pack even though it has some nice moments.3 side view mirrors out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

From Australia comes this very well written and acted, tense drama that is particularly attuned to our times – the recently noted role of the police force involved in criminal activity and brutality. Written by actor Joel Edgerton who also stars this is storytelling on the first order – well worth viewing and pondering.The concept behind the film is the inner workings of the police force, both old timers such as Detective Carl Summer (a brilliant performance by Tom Wilkinson), hard working detectives like Malcolm Toohey (Joel Edgerton) who happen to make mistakes after having celebrated with booze a recent traumatic arrest, and a newcomer to the force Jim Melic (Jai Courtney is a very sensitive portrayal). Though the focus is on an accidental hit and run between Toohey and a bicycle riding youngster following a checkpoint where Toohey (who has been drinking is stopped by local police but not held because he is a fellow cop) calls for help but decides to cover-up his part in the encounter, the other two cops are at equal crossroads: Summer tells Toohey to fabricate a story to prevent his being arrested for hit and run, a fact that Summer's new ride along partner Melic cannot justify and seeks the mother of the injured child (Sarah Roberts) to console her. As the tension mounts and the youngster's situation deteriorates and so do the lives of these three detectives. Despite Toohey's wife (Melissa George) encouraging him not to tell the truth as well as Summer's insistence that for the safety of the force and the three cops Toohey maintain his fabricated story, Toohey is ridden with guilt and begins to change his mind about the incident and his involvement. Summer is intolerant of Toohey's weakness and in a struggle Melic (who has made an indecent advance to the child's mother despite his extending support for her) brutally assaults Summer resulting in brain damage. All three cops must walk that thin line between truth and fiction and the effect that truth will have on their careers. At times the Australian accents are tough to understand but that is a very minor point. This is a beautifully scripted, conceived, photographed and acted film that should be high on everyone's list of top films of the year.