This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Review: I'm usually a fan of Ed Harris's work, but I found this movie quite weak and the storyline pretty boring. It seemed like it was made for TV and you don't really get to see why Ed Harris is so feared in jail. You also don't get to see what happened to the corrupt cop after all of his evil doings and the ending was corny. I now know why I hadn't heard anything about the film before it came came because it's one of those low budget films that will be forgotten, even though there were some decent actors in it. The only watchable factor is that you want to see what happens to the main character whose trying to go straight, but apart from that, I didn't find it that interesting. Disappointing!Round-Up: At the age of 64, Ed Harris is still churning out movies with great performances. From Pain & Gain to a brief role in Gravity, he still makes some decent movies but a lot of them go straight to DVD. He has a unique, cool way of acting which is great to watch but he has made some bad choices of late. I was surprised to see Sharon Glees, who used to play Cagney in Cagney & Lacey, but she only had a small role without much lines. I think that everyone thought that she would have been a bigger star than she was. As for this movie, it started off well and the storyline looked promising, but it went downhill after the main character came out of prison. I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/crime movies about a guy who comes out of prison and tries to go straight, now that he has to look after his 5 year old boy, but he keeps on getting pulled in the wrong direction. 3/10

I should have liked this movie. It has so many elements that I normally enjoy: Ed Harris, prison drama and action, criminal brotherhood, and it's an indie film (which I tend to prefer to large studio movies).Unfortunately, all of these elements were combined very poorly. The result is on par with a made-for-TV movie or, at best, some crappy Dean Cain or Casper Van Diem movie shown at 3am on TNT ("Starship Troopers" excluded, of course).And though I feel like 2/10 is a harsh score (especially for a low-budget indie film), every time I reconsider the score my mind flashes to many poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed scenes that are burned into my memory. It's a bad movie; 2/10 is fair.

This film with a budget of only $650,000 Writer/Director/Actor Ash Adams should be applauded for putting together such a stellar cast and really pulled it off. If you're a fan of independent film do yourself a favor and see Once Fallen. 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. I've seen countless low budget films and this is one of the best I've ever seen. His performance playing a dirty cop is both captivating and terrifying. Once Fallen is a crime drama with a very touching relationship between fathers and sons. The strong performances of the cast adds to the raw emotion of the film. Watch the Blu-ray version so you can appreciate how good this film looks. This film deserves more attention!

Ash Adams, wrote, directed, produced and acted in this very raw story of a family challenged by a life of crime in San Pedro, California. While the film has some brittle edges, editing flaws that disturb the flow of the story, the acting is so fine that these flaws become minor. It is a small budget film populated with some of the finest actors in the business and the result makes for a film that deserves more attention than it received in the theater. Chance (Brian Presley, in a career changing role) has been released from five years in prison for a crime in which he took the blame for a number of his friends and family. Upon release he discovers that his ex-girlfriend Kat (Alison Eastwood) gave birth to their son August while Chance was in jail. Kat promptly walks out on Chance and August, leaving Chance to parent a child he didn't even know he fathered. Chance's friend Beat (Chad Lindberg) is a damaged man, having witnessed with Chance the brutal slaughter of a man by Chance's father Liam (Ed Harris), a man who has been in prison since and has become the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Beat has a debt that must be paid and pleads with Chance to do one more Cocaine sale for dirty cop Rath (Ash Adams) to free himself from that debt and get on with life. Chance wants to turn his life around, tries to pay off Beat's debt by participating in a knuckle fight for the operator Eddie (Peter Weller), but when he loses the fight all bets are off. Chance visits his blind aunt Rose (Amy Madigan) and her friend Sue (Sharon Gless) and Rose insists Chance visit his father Liam in the jail. Chance also becomes attached to a friend of Kat's named Pearl (Taraji P. Henson) and Pearl helps Chance to find fatherhood with August and a relationship with her. From all of these setups come encounters that alter the story with realistic views of the corruption of San Pedro as well as a coming together of Chance and his father whose turbulent family history is revealed at the end of the film. The cast is excellent: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Taraji P. Henson, Peter Weller, Ash Adams, Chad Lindberg and especially Brian Presley give high quality performances as do the supporting cast members. This little film may be tough and raw, but the underlying importance of family is strong and well worth attention from a wider audience. Grady Harp