“Prison is for those who aren’t punished up here,” says Det. Sgt Carl Summer pointing to his noggin and insinuating that incarceration is for recalcitrant recidivists without remorse, not for those who are plagued by their conscience for a non-premeditated wrong doing.
It’s supposed to be a salve for his subordinate, Detective Malcolm Toohey, who harbours a harrowing secret.
You see, after being shot during a bust and surviving due to the imperviousness of his bullet proof vest, Toohey takes in a few too many Toohey’s at a police piss up to celebrate a successful operation. He really shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car but the only duty of care given by his colleagues is the password identifying him as a policeman should he run into an RBT.
Sure enough, he does run into a booze bus and on identifying himself as a cop is given carte blanche to proceed. These fellow officers are now complicit in the felony.
FELONY is the title of the feature film penned and starring Joel Edgerton as the delinquent detective, Malcolm Toohey, who, whilst under the influence of alcohol is driving a vehicle that strikes a young cyclist.
He stops and renders assistance, calls for an ambulance and waits at the scene, but fails to report he was the perpetrator. He has a burgeoning brilliant career and a family of his own to provide for. This thinking is backed up by his senior officer, Carl Summer, who reasons this misdemeanor should not impede a man who does good work in protecting society.
Carl’s new partner, a rookie, “by the book” detective, Jim Melic, believes there is no wriggle room defence for such an offence and puts himself at loggerheads with his seasoned partner. His crusade brings him into cloudy relationship with the victim of the incident muddying his own moral and ethical stance.
Ethics and empathy ride shotgun on this mature moral dilemma drama, and kudos must go first and foremost to Edgerton’s screenplay. It’s edgy, layered, and tightly constructed with good dialogue and meaty characters.
Edgerton the actor plays the conscience crippled cop with vigour and vulnerability. From the opening scene we see him as fallible, no supercop, making a mistake that could have got himself killed and then reacting honestly but inappropriately. Later actions also illustrate fallibility which causes his fall into felony.
As his mentor Carl Summers, Tom Wilkinson is the epitome of the custodian of cop culture – close ranks and protect your members. It’s a shitty world and shelter should be given to those who lay their lives on the line every day. He has been personally touched by a traffic tragedy and is satisfied there was no malice aforethought in what he sees as an accident.
As the strict procedural policeman, Melic, Jai Courtney is stony faced stoic, strutting and cock sure, with the stance of someone who has a police truncheon stuck up his arse.
Melissa George as Toohey’s wife, Julie, is very fine as the woman who is catapulted into a conspiracy and must wrestle with what is best for her family, a delicate performance of steely fragility.
Mention must be made of Jack O’Rourke who plays Toohey’s immediate superior, cop shop coordinator, Sarge. In just a few key scenes he manages to convey a convincing authority and integrity.
Directed by Matthew Saville and evocatively shot by Mark Wareham, FELONY is a film that explores personal and public ethics and the weight of individual conscience.