Customer Reviews

American Violet

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seen a viewing of 'AMERICAN VIOLET' recently.. And I had mixed emotions: upset, melancholy, ecstatic, and surprised! To be falsely accused of a crime, that you know deep in your heart you did NOT commit, is one thing... But when your so-called lawyer suggests you to take a plea bargain, oppose to fighting for your clearance makes one wonder who can you trust... This movie, based on factual events, is heartwrenching, as it is an eye-opener!!! I'd recommend that everyone sees this flick, even teens!!! Granted this ocurred in Melody, Texas, it's taking place worldwide...

PS... Superb performances by all: Nicole Beharie, Alfre Woodard, Will Patton, even Anthony Mackey!!! Applause, followed by a standing ovation!!!

This is quite simply the most moving and powerful film I've seen this year. In fact, the film had me from the opening credits, where scenes of a young black mother getting her kids up out of bed and ready for the day are juxtaposed with scenes of police getting their armaments ready for an assault on a government housing project.

"American Violet" is based on a true story, and while the film makers combined some characters and condensed the passage of time for dramatic purposes, the key events of the film are as they happened in real life.

It's just another day in Bush Texas, where counties were given government money for making drug convictions. Worse, citizens could be accused and arrested based on the testimony of a single informant, in this case a young paranoid schizophrenic whose testimony would never hold up in court.

How then did the government prevail in these cases? By offering suspects a plea bargain: plead guilty and pay a fine but serve no jail time. What they didn't tell those who accepted the pleas were the terrible consequences: no further government benefits, no government housing subsidies, felonies on their records, and no further right to vote as American citizens.

Appallingly, this film reveals that ninety percent of all the cases in the American "justice" system are resolved by these profoundly inequitable plea bargains. What's more, an African-American man is more likely to serve time in jail in contemporary America than to graduate from college.

This story focuses on the young mother accused of dealing drugs. Against all odds, and having no resources to afford a good lawyer, she filed a civil suit against the government with the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union -- and got the government to drop the charges and even amend their practices.

Now they cannot arrest someone in Texas based on the testimony of a single individual.

Unfortunately, the corrupt DA who made a practice of running these raids on the predominantly Afro-American housing development was eventually re-elected (and may still be in office -- it's unclear).

Indeed, though this corruption took place even as Bush was "appointed" President in 2000, the system is still as much in need of repair in Obama's America.

As a white, middle-aged, middle-class viewer, I was shocked and appalled by this sad truth, of which I was unaware. And yes, I used up about a quarter of a box of Kleenex watching this movie.

The acting here is uniformly Oscar-worthy, most notably by Alfre Woodard as the young woman's mother and newcomer Nicole Beharie as Dee, the accused. Charles Dutton and Will Patton also give sterling performances; even the little girls are commendable -- four sisters in real life.

Finally I must take VEHEMENT exception to the editorial review Amazon has posted above. I don't know who the blockheaded woman is who called this a bad movie -- I've never heard of this reviewer before and doubt I ever will again, if her other reviews are as far off base as this one.

Interestingly, the director Tim Disney is the great-grand-nephew of Walt Disney, and is apparently as devout a good-hearted liberal as Uncle Walt was conservative, cold, and, according to some, anti-Semitic. In fact, I will be as bold as to say that if Tim Disney makes more films of this calibre, Walt's greatest gift to America and the world may turn out to be Tim, not Mickey Mouse.

And what does the title of the film refer to? The hardy little plant that almost dies when Dee is imprisoned, flourishing again at the end of the film.

I can't recommend this film enough. Make sure you have a box of Kleenex at the ready, however. You will need it.

I seen this movie in the theathers and I cried so much, The movie was great, the actors were very good too. This is a true story that needed to be told. I will buy this on Blu ray when it comes out.

One minute Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie) is making an honest living as a waitress and sharing her dreams with a customer and soon after she's snatched away by police. Her four daughters go without their mother for twenty-one days while she spends time in jail for a crime she did not commit.
Dee lives in Melody, TX. The police have been raiding her community of Arlington Springs since she was a child, terrorizing less fortunate people of color and her so-called lawyer wants her to become one of many affected by plea bargains. Dee could have been like those who pleaded guilty under duress, but it was the love she had for her own children that gave her the courage to make a difficult choice. She decided to help ACLU lawyers David Cohen and Bryon Hill and a lawyer who resided in Melody, TX, Sam Conroy (Will Patton), fight to make things right. Dee was advised against taking a stand and, yes, she was afraid at times but she had the support of people close to her and she took her problems to Jesus.
When I heard about this film months ago I believe it only played in select theaters so I didn't get to see it. I was glad to come across it on dvd. Like most movies dealing with racial discrimination, parts of this movie irritated me but I did like American Violet.
"After what they did to me, mama, they made it my business!" - I liked that line. And the words confidential informant Porter (Anthony Mackie) spoke at the end of the pre-trail deposition - deep.
American Violet is based on a true story and I applaud Regina Kelly for her courage.

I rented this unknown film in Blu-ray from Blockbuster because of the cast: Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Will Patton who are all excellent in this true story of an woman unjustly accused of being a drug pusher. The actress, Nicole Beharie, is excellent in her debut and the story is almost just as riveting as Clint Eastwood's "Changeling". I guess what keeps me from giving this a full 5 star review is that the direction is somewhat TV movish but regardless I still recommend this true story of injustice to everyone who is interested in the law of the land. The Blu-ray is excellent and the film is shown in wide-screen format (2.35).

Taking on the subtleties of modern discrimination

I half expected a made-for-TV story with "American Violet," but found a surprisingly taut, nuanced and well-acted film about a biased justice system in Texas. Dee Dee Brown, single mother of 4 young girls, is caught up in a narcotics raid on her project. The local DA is more than willing to cut a deal with her. Her choice: plead guilty and go home, or risk 16-25 years in prison. Yet a guilty plea would destroy her chance to vote, get housing or find a job. The film pits the ACLU and a reluctant local lawyer against the powerful cabal of the DA, law-and-order judges and a good-old-boy network. Dee Dee's home life is shown in its emotional complexity, with a supportive mother and church and a vindictive ex-husband and his new girlfriend. "American Violet" is complex and moving portrayal of a woman desperate to save her children in the midst of a system bent to destroy her spirit.

Nicole Beharie, as Dee Dee Brown, stole the show in every scene. She acted with passion and fierce determination to proclaim her innocence. Will Patton, as attorney Sam Conroy, did a great job portraying a man conflicted between the desire to keep his place within his a local community and the need to satisfy his conscience. Xhibit was suitably brutish as Dee Dee's ex. Only Michael O'Keefe, as DA Calvin Beckett tilted toward caricature.

All told, a fine movie that didn't make the villains too evil , the heroes too pure or the victories too sweet.

This well-acted and very moving movie is based on a true story of a district attorney and police force that misused the judicial system. It is a story that everyone should know. It occurred in a Texas county that followed the rules that existed throughout the state in the year 2000. The rules allowed police to arrest and indict a person if just one individual claimed, without proof, that the person committed a crime. The DA and police wanted to arrest as many people as possible because counties with high conviction rates - and conviction rates include guilty pleas - receive large amounts of Federal money. So prosecutors threaten innocent people with large jail sentences, as much as twenty years; but, they say, if you plead guilty, we will give you a suspended sentence. The plea agreement gets money for the county, but it makes the innocent pleader a felon, unable to vote or find a job, get welfare, housing, and medicines, among many other problems.

This film tells the story of such an innocent victim who was identified as a drug dealer because the informant was told to identify her by his cousin who hated her. She suffered greatly. She was offered a plea or twenty years in jail. She refused because she was innocent and she knew what would happen to her if she became a felon. She spent twenty one days in jail until her poor mother could raise bail. The father of her children demanded custody, although he lived with a child molester, the woman who incited her arrest. She was fired from her job. No one would hire her.

But then David Cohen of the ACLU came and asked her to file suit against the DA and the police to change the system. He was helped by a black ACLU attorney and a white local lawyer with a guilty conscience and a sick wife, who had to continue to live in the town that he was suing.

The US has the world's largest prison population, and of the 2.3 million prisoners, more than 90 percent accepted guilty pleas.

Hey well you can laugh all day long at the many police brutality videos that Houston cranks out about every other month (I just saw a new one of a guy in handcuffs being walked to the car getting punched in the face), but if its like that in the most advanced and developed city in the state; can you imagine what is going on in places like Jasper, Magnolia, and all the countless other small towns? Would you bet the life of a loved one that the people are interfacing with that blindfolded white girl with the balance beam in her hands, "Blind Justice"? Step 1- Tag all minorities with Felonies. Step 2-Disqualify minority votes Step 3-At election time make Texas turn Red. Step 4-Pass genocidal laws. Step 5-Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Very good movie.

This was an incredibly good movie. The only problem about it is almost nothing in the film surprised me, even though it was based on a true story, which is even sadder. What did surprise me is the statistic about 90% of people taking a plea bargain to avoid going to prison. I didn't know the number was that high nor did I know about how that would affect other living expenses for low-income households. I wasn't familiar with Nicole Beharie, but she did an excellent job alongside veteran actress Alfre Woodard. The lady who played the sex offender girlfriend played her role to a tea, too, and Xzibit continues to impress me as a rapper-actor. He stands out as one of those musicians who actually is trying to perfect his craft. Great job, great story, and the film didn't last long enough. I wanted more.

I am shocked at the crummy review Amazon.com gave this movie. Ridiculous!

This is an important movie. We must straighten out our legal system. Here is a quote from the end of the movie:

The U.S. has the largest prison population. Of the 2.3 million currently in prison, more than 90% accepted plea bargains. Recently, I saw the movie "Convicted," which was another movie based on a true story about a wrongful, unlawful conviction. And I also read John Grisham's latest novel, "The Confession," which is another gripping story about a wrongful conviction, and how the police can coerce confessions.

Both John Grisham and Scott Turow, who are bestselling legal thriller novelists (and attorneys) have each written a non-fiction book about wrongful convictions and the death penalty...and they both belong to a group called the Innocence Project, which works to free innocent inmates who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

Also, there is a Oct. 2010 book called "Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison," Empire," that addresses the gross inequities in the legal system that have been blueprinted from the harsh and inequitable Texas "justice" system.

My respect goes out to all that have the courage to try to bring about very needed changes. Not only are innocent people's lives and the lives of their families terribly affected...but our broken legal and prison system costs billions of dollars.