When Chance (Brian Presley) returns home after five years in jail, he is determined to escape his past, start a new life and make peace with his father, (Ed Harris, Golden Globe® winner), who is the head of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang and serving a life sentence for murder. Upon his release, his dreams of a crime-free future begin to disintegrate when he is forced to assume his best friend's outrageous debt to a local mobster. Despite being thrust back into a world of organized fighting, drug dealing and ties to corrupt police agents, Chance falls in love with Pearl (Academy Award® nominee Taraji P. Henson) and the prospect of living a normal life seems almost within reach. But will he be able to escape the crimes of his father and his past?
Reviews
I have seen a LOT of movies, more than I'm going to admit here. There have been turkeys and there have been hits. However, I really must strain to remember a movie as bad as this one. Clichéd in multiple ways, boring, it was terrible. On rare occasions, in order to get through a movie, I set my DVD player to 1.2x speed which is what I did in Once Fallen. Once Fallen is one of worst movies I have ever seen. I can't believe Ed Harris would participate in this bomb.Don't waste your time with Once Fallen. If you want to see a great prison film, the best I ever saw was The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Nothing comes close to it. Escape from Alcatraz (1979) starring Clint Eastwood is also good. If you want to see Ed Harris in a better film, ANYTHING else is better.
It is refreshing to see a low budget film like this out doing lot's and lot's of big name actor films of late. The story is solid, goes along at a good pace, acting is good (due to a well picked cast). A solid 8 out of 10 and a hell of a lot better film than some of the over rated B grade crap that I have seen coming from the over paid Hollywood production line for some time. Watch it as it is worth a view.It is refreshing to see a low budget film like this out doing lot's and lot's of big name actor films of late. The story is solid, goes along at a good pace, acting is good (due to a well picked cast). A solid 8 out of 10 and a hell of a lot better film than some of the over rated B grade crap that I have seen coming from the over paid Hollywood production line for some time. Watch it as it is worth a view.
I am giving a rather low rating for a movie that is, shot for a low budget of $650000 in only a few weeks, surprisingly well made. I'll try my best to explain why, without spoiling any aspect of the story: the movie starts out strong as the main character Chance, a drug dealer released from prison after five years is trying hard to change his live for the better. what's not to like about this beginning? Chance is likable (and cute) enough, no surprise here: we want him to succeed but we almost instantly sense that chances for Chance are slim!the more the story evolves and presents its challenges to our "hero to be", the more all the characters are evolving into rather overdone caricatures, loaded with stereotypes ...Writer/Producer/Director/Actor Adams meant well but in the end only manages to deliver a well executed movie with an o.k. story but totally lacking convincing characters. This, however is only my personal opinion and should not keep anyone from watching the movie.
This film receiving a 3.6/10 is unfathomable to me. The acting is superb and the plot develops very well. This film is about a family and their close knit friends having to live with the hard choices they make, and the price they pay for those choices. There is real emotion to this film and the characters are developed extremely well. It has elements of film noir in its gritty and detailed depiction of characters with rough edges and all but that really adds to this film's power. Ed Harris does not disappoint in his role as the deeply flawed yet caring father, who puts everything on the line for his son over and over again (not wanting to spoil anything, that is all I will say about that). An excellent film, well worth watching.
