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Get a $30 Amazon Video On Demand Credit: Purchase an eligible Roku digital video player, TiVo DVR, or Panasonic Blu-ray Disc player and receive a $30 credit at Amazon Video On Demand. Offer expires December 31, 2009. See details.

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Product Details
Synopsis: Falsely accused of distributing narcotics in a school zone, Dee Roberts (Beharie) is offered a deal she can?t refuse: plead guilty and accept a 10-year suspended sentence. The alternative: risk serving 16-to-25 in jail.
Starring: Nicole Beharie, Will Patton
Supporting actors: Alfre Woodard, Michael O'Keefe, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott A. Martin, Malcolm Barrett, Jackson Beals, Michael Beasley, Samantha Beaulieu, Tody Bernard, Allen Boudreaux, Jeanne Bourgeois, Andrew Buchler, Kesha Bullard, J. Omar Castro, John Will Clay, Portia Cue, Daurice Cummings, Charles S. Dutton, Roslyn D. Evans, Jon Eyez
Directed by: Tim Disney
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 1 hour 43 minutes
Release year: 2009
Studio: Image Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, drug references and language.
ASIN: B002SUCPE4 (Rental) and B002STBIFC (Purchase)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,305 in Amazon Video On Demand (See Bestsellers in Amazon Video On Demand)
Rights & Requirements
Rental rights: 3 day viewing period, play online or download to one location. Details
Purchase rights: No time limits. Play online and download to 2 locations. Details
Compatible with: Mac and PC online viewing, Windows PC download, TiVo DVRs, Sony BRAVIA Internet Video Link, Roku player, compatible portable video devices. System requirements
Format: Amazon Video on Demand (streaming online video and digital download)
Also available on DVD

American Violet DVD ~ Nicole Beharie

4.5 out of 5 stars (15) $20.99
Theatrical Release Information
  • US Theatrical Release Date: October 13, 2009
  • MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, drug references and language.
  • Production Company: Uncommon Productions
  • Also Known As: American Inquisition
  • Filming Locations: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Video Format Details

Online Viewing

PC Download

TiVo box

Portable device
View instantly from any PC or Mac with a broadband connection
Ready to watch in about 40 minutes*
Ready to watch in about 50 minutes*
Ready to transfer in about 35 minutes*
* Your download times may vary--estimates shown are for a typical DSL connection (1.5 Mbits/sec). Rental videos cannot be transferred to a portable device.

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A RECOMMENDED EYE-OPENER FOR ALL!!!!, October 4, 2009
This review is from: American Violet (DVD)
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!!!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Profiling the Drug Wars, April 28, 2009
This review is from: American Violet [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)
Wouldn't it be terrible to find yourself jailed for something you did not do, based solely on the word of a lying, mentally ill drug addict? That's what happened to Regina Kelly in Hearne, Texas back in 2000. Ensnared in a mass arrest of suspected drug dealers at her housing project, the young single mother was charged with selling drugs in a school zone. Despite her insistence that she was innocent, her court-appointed attorney pressured her to accept a plea bargain to avoid many years in prison and the loss of her children. With no criminal record and no drugs found on or near her, she refused the deal. Instead, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union she filed a class action lawsuit.

Although Kelly's case was reported in a documentary by PBS' cutting-edge Frontline back in 2004, American Violet brings a fictionalized version to a broader, mass audience. Co-director Bill Haney (along with Tim Disney) says he heard about Kelly's case on National Public Radio as he was driving; it so moved him that he pulled his car over to the side of the road and cried.

In this film, "Dee Roberts" (a magnificent Nicole Beharie) is the plaintiff in a class-action case over racial discrimination in drug enforcement. Tim Blake Nelson plays David Cohen, the ACLU lawyer who sues district attorney Calvin Beckett (Michael O'Keefe) on her behalf.

Kelly is quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying the film is "90 percent accurate." The depositions, the courtroom scene in which she fights to retain custody of her children, and many other scenes are word-for-word accounts.

Like Clint Eastwood's Changeling, this tale of a defiant woman's struggle against corrupt law enforcement strikes a universal chord. But American Violet also addresses present-day criminal justice themes of racial profiling, coerced plea bargaining, and - most of all - wrongful convictions based on false statements by jailhouse informants.

I highly recommend this powerful movie.

For those interested in more information on the actual case, the Web has various resources. The class-action case, Regina Kelly v. John Paschall, is discussed at the ACLU's website. Kelly has her own web site and a YouTube video; just Google her name to get to those. I have also posted more information and links at 1url(dot)com/AmericanViolet.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, So Sad, September 21, 2009
This review is from: American Violet [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
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.
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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great movie - watch it
I wonder if Trinnie Dalton (Amazon review) and I watched the same film. Sure there was a rawness and it was not entirely 'polished' but if this film is and was based on a true... Read more
Published 12 days ago by RW

4.0 out of 5 stars Racist Intent
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. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Katrina L. Burchett

5.0 out of 5 stars ESSENTIAL viewing for EVERY good American
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... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Jerry P. Danzig

5.0 out of 5 stars American Violet
Outstanding dramatisation of some shocking events in Hearne, Texas. The hypocrisy of the Texas legal system is exposed; because the District Attorney of Hearne, Texas, John... Read more
Published 25 days ago by London Rat

4.0 out of 5 stars Rarely seen docu-drama of a woman's fight for justice
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... Read more
Published 26 days ago by Dennis W. Wong

5.0 out of 5 stars African Violet
The movie "African Violet" offers great insight into how minority and low income populations are vulnerable to being unjustly incarcerated. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Peggy C. Schjeldahl

5.0 out of 5 stars American Violet [Theatrical Review]
An excellent movie and a must see; It was not only influential but also eye-opening. Based on a true story, we can come to realize how corrupt some of our more powerful figures... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joshua Miltier

4.0 out of 5 stars Injustice of the Justice System
I purchased this dvd without knowing any of the back story, but the film provided a great history of the problem at hand. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Amber Dawn Bell

4.0 out of 5 stars Based on a True Story...always a good start
It is difficult to believe that this level of stupidity still exsists in the country but I guess it does...You have to admire the grit of the main character is this movie. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jill St John

1.0 out of 5 stars Movie does not play
Once purchased, this movie does not play on Video On Demand.
Don't waste your money.
Published 1 month ago by Stargazer

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