First Time Felon

Starring:Byron Altman, Anthony 'Treach' Criss, Sandra 'Pepa' Denton, Badja Djola, Omar Epps, William Forsythe, Johnell Gainey, Ed Grady, Deborah Hobart, Lucinda Jenney, Kristen Jones, Jo D. Jonz, Delroy Lindo, Robin Michelle McClamb, Michael Ngaujah, Tom Nowicki, Justin Pierce, Rachel Ticotin, Gary Anthony Williams
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Faced with five years in prison or four months in boot camp, a young gangster takes what he thinks will be the easy road. Brutal Marine-style discipline teaches him lessons that change his life - but can he resist temptation when he's back on the streets? ' 'An experience not to be missed. ' ' (Hollywood Reporter)

DVD Features:
Biographies
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Average customer rating:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of prison
Excellent Movie... You wont be sorry that you spent time watching it.
First Time Felon
a dont miss true story
A VERY INSPIRING MOVIE

First Time Felon
Starring: Byron Altman , Anthony 'Treach' Criss , Sandra 'Pepa' Denton , Badja Djola , and Omar Epps
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Always Outnumbered
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Conviction

ASIN: B00005B8UA
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Description

Faced with five years in prison or four months in boot camp, a young gangster takes what he thinks will be the easy road. Brutal Marine-style discipline teaches him lessons that change his life - but can he resist temptation when he's back on the streets? ' 'An experience not to be missed. ' ' (Hollywood Reporter)

DVD Features:
Biographies
Interactive Menus

Customer Reviews:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of prison.......2007-03-09

First Time Felon shows us that it doesn't seem like enough for society for someone to pay their fines and do their time--we want to punish them for life for a crime they might have commited when they were young and dumb. In this way we "label" and "stigmatize" and drive people into adopting a Master Status of "criminal" or "loser." The movie also shows how hard it is to get out of a "birds of a feather" lifestyle when someone is released from prison and has to go right back to where they learned and practiced their criminal craft. Omar Epps and Delroy Lindo have a "pivotal moment" in one scene which I think is the best in the movie. I'm not crazy about the sub-plot of Delroy Lindo's character and think that could have been written or handled more effectively. I also think the atmosphere in the local jail (where Charles Dutton briefly appears as one of the gang leaders) is a bit overdone. All in all however, this is a good movie. It is instructional for teenagers and doesn't have a fairy tale ending. Fairy tale endings are happiness without struggle. Greg Yance, the real life person's life who this movie is based on, did finally get his chance but many don't. Perseverance is the message. Unfortunately, in today's economy and with many receiving such inferior educations, a lot of former inmates aren't going to find as happy an ending as Yance did. If this movie helps one person see that if we help others find meaningful employment then we help our whole society, it will be worthwhile. However, it would be even better to help someone BEFORE they end up in prison. Good flick. Watch it with a teenager.

Excellent Movie... You wont be sorry that you spent time watching it........2006-08-03

This is a type of movie someone usually looks at on the shelf and then passes it up for something else because they've never heard of it and it isnt one of those highly advertised block busters. If you fall in that category and cant make up your mind about spending a little money and time on this movie... stop thinking and go for it! You wont be sorry. This is a VERY good movie especially if you like heart warming and inspirational themes.

Basically, this movie is about a young adult(Age between 17 and 21) that gets into trouble for selling drugs. He is given the choice of going to jail for five years or going to a military style boot camp for I think three months.... Of course he chooses the bootcamp. The movie shows a great example of how behavioral bootcamps are ran. The bootcamp part of the movie takes up only half of the play time though. The other half shows the struggles of how hard it is to go back to the same problematic environment and use what was learned and how easily it is to fall back into old behaviors due to poverty and lack of opportunity due to being a felon. For example, it shows how hard it is to get a "second chance" in the job market being a ex-convict.

I agree with the past posters that this movie would be great to show in an educational setting especially college.... maybe even a high school psychology/sociology class. With that said dont take that as this movie being like a documentary... its not. With out a doubt this can be watched for just pure entertainment.

So give this a try if you can't make up your mind. Again you wont be sorry.

First Time Felon.......2006-02-21

Good movie that shows the struggles someone faces when going down the wrong path and having to make the nessary changes to over come mistakes from their past.

a dont miss true story.......2004-11-14

i seen this movie for the first time about 3 in the morning on cable by the time i was 15 mins into it i was hooked.plus its a true story.basicly a young black male(greg yance) is headed down the wrong track,then he finds himself givin a choice 5 years in the state pen or 4 months in boot camp.i wont tell you the rest.but its a great movie and a must see.

A VERY INSPIRING MOVIE.......2004-08-15

BASED ON A TRUE STORY, A CHICAGO DRUG DEALER [OMAR EPPS] IS CAUGHT DEALING DRUGS ON THE STREET AND IS FACED WITH EITHER FIVE YEARS IN PRISON OR FOUR MONTHS IN BOOT CAMP. UPON HIS GRADUATION OF BOOT CAMP, HE FINDS EXTREME DIFFICULTY GETTING A JOB. VERY TOUCHING AND VERY WELL ACTED MOVIE. OMAR EPPS DOES REAL GOOD IN THIS MOVIE AND SO DOES DELROY LINDO, WHO PLAYS A TOUGH INSTRUCTOR AT THE BOOT CAMP. THIS IS DEFNITELY A MOVIE THAT'S TOO GOOD TO MISS. WAS ORIGINALLY MADE FOR HBO.

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned / First-Time Felon

Average customer rating:

PROTECTOR

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned / First-Time Felon
Starring: Brooke Marie Bridges , Kevin Carroll , Jamaal Carter , Bill Cobbs , and Natalie Cole
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0001WTWVA
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Customer Reviews:

PROTECTOR.......2005-02-11

Meet Socrates Fortlow. He is a murderer who has done his time and now is trying to reintegrate into society. The question is will society let him? Laurence Fishburne gives an outstanding performance of a man ready to make amends for the wrongs he has done but won't allow the system to make his less than a man or brute as they would like him. Socrates is older, wiser and still full of fury against those who would attempt to break his spirit.
Throughout the movie we can feel Socrates' anger but we see his compassion for his dying friend (Bill Cobbs), a young woman whose husband won't stay home and finally for a young boy who needs a father and help from a gang determined to kill him. This is a film of where a man comes to terms with his past, does the best he can to protect those in the present and is trying to build a new future. The brilliant cast of Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned shows redemption in the Black community. It is not a religious redemption but one where you put the pieces of your lives back together and endure. Socrates attempts to be not only the protector in his ghetto community but also as a man who lends hope to its members.

Charlie Rose with Warren Hoge; Charles S. Dutton; Michael Shermer (September 3, 1997)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Warren Hoge; Charles S. Dutton; Michael Shermer (September 3, 1997)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

London Bureau Chief for The New York Times, Warren Hoge, talks about the investigation into Princess Diana's death and the implications for the British monarchy. Next, actor Charles S. Dutton tells Charlie about his directorial debut with his HBO film First-Time Felon. Finally, founder of the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine Michael Shermer speaks about his book, Why People Believe Weird Things. The book looks into the psychology behind conspiracy theories and urban legends.

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