Felony

Is a lie defensible if it protects the innocent? If the truth wouldn't change a tragic course of events, does it matter? These thorny moral questions are at the heart of Felony, a thriller that brings together three leading men at the top of their respective games. Fuelled by a complex script by Joel Edgerton and tight direction by Matthew Saville, Felony is a stylish, gripping, compulsively watchable story with an almost unsolvable dilemma at its core.

Malcolm Toohey (Edgerton) has it all: a terrific family and a reputation as an upright cop, a job he loves. One night, after celebrating a successful arrest, he makes a terrible mistake, then, to cover up that mistake, he makes the decision to lie about it — with tragic consequences. Complicit in the affair is senior officer Carl Summer (Tom Wilkinson), an assertive watchdog of "the brethren," whose new partner Jim Melic (Jai Courtney) has the youthful arrogance of knowing very well, he thinks, what is right and what is wrong.

Best known for compelling performances in such films as Zero Dark Thirty, Animal Kingdom, and Warrior, Edgerton makes an auspicious debut as a screenwriter, an achievement equal to his portrayal of the conflicted officer Toohey. His onscreen chemistry with Wilkinson, riveting as the rapacious fixer, is palpable, and Courtney (Jack Reacher, A Good Day to Die Hard) textures the hard-line ethics of his character with softer moments that betray a shocking lack of judgment.

One man is guilty of a crime, one tries to cover it up, and one tries to expose it — the collisions of these characters make for one of the year's best thrillers.

JANE SCHOETTLE