Felony is a remarkably unremarkable story that is all the more authentic for its simplicity. It tells the story of Mal Toohey (Joel Edgerton) who, after a hugely successful drug bust and celebrations, drunkenly and accidentally hits a small child on his paper route. Panic-stricken, he lies about finding him on the side of the road and commits himself to a story that will gnaw at him over the following days. Toohey never fools Jim Melic (Jai Courtney), a young detective with a far more experienced partner in the form of Carl Summer (Tom Wilkinson, boasting an impeccable Australian accent). Melic begins to pick apart Toohey's story while trying to impress and maintain a working relationship with his senior partner, who insists that there is no foul play.
Edgerton's film is deep in just the right places and keeps it simple and straightforward in others. The background cases - Toohey's drug bust and Melic and Summer's rapist - don't complicate the story but rather enable us to perceive each detective's view of the world. Each of the film's leads are given rich characters to work with, and the dialogue is both authentic and yet very clever - Detective Summer's monologue late in the film is perhaps the best of the script.
Jai Courtney fumbles for the most part with his inability to move his face out of its stony preset. However, there are two scenes in which he does quite well, including a terrifically awkward scene in which he shows poor judgement with the young victim's mother. Joel Edgerton excels in subtlety, as we see the guilt crawling up his skin as the film progresses. The film's highlight is Tom Wilkinson, who is every bit the loyal Aussie police officer and carries off each scene with superb authenticity and acting class. A drunken night time confrontation later in the film is absolutely spectacular.
There are a number of elements that feel underdone - the death of Summer's son is only touched on twice - and it was hard to buy the twenty-something Courtney and sixty- something Wilkinson as partners. The ultimate fate of Summer indicates that the role either adapted to his casting or was written just so it would end that way.
Felony is authentic in its simplicity and thanks to the talented performances, Australians can proudly identify it as a product of our local film industry.
Edgerton's film is deep in just the right places and keeps it simple and straightforward in others. The background cases - Toohey's drug bust and Melic and Summer's rapist - don't complicate the story but rather enable us to perceive each detective's view of the world. Each of the film's leads are given rich characters to work with, and the dialogue is both authentic and yet very clever - Detective Summer's monologue late in the film is perhaps the best of the script.
Jai Courtney fumbles for the most part with his inability to move his face out of its stony preset. However, there are two scenes in which he does quite well, including a terrifically awkward scene in which he shows poor judgement with the young victim's mother. Joel Edgerton excels in subtlety, as we see the guilt crawling up his skin as the film progresses. The film's highlight is Tom Wilkinson, who is every bit the loyal Aussie police officer and carries off each scene with superb authenticity and acting class. A drunken night time confrontation later in the film is absolutely spectacular.
There are a number of elements that feel underdone - the death of Summer's son is only touched on twice - and it was hard to buy the twenty-something Courtney and sixty- something Wilkinson as partners. The ultimate fate of Summer indicates that the role either adapted to his casting or was written just so it would end that way.
Felony is authentic in its simplicity and thanks to the talented performances, Australians can proudly identify it as a product of our local film industry.