The true story of a young girl held captive by her insane caretaker comes to life in this disturbing film from Ella Enchanted director Tommy O'Haver. Hard Candy's Ellen Page stars as Sylvia Likens a teenager who, along with her sister, is left to live temporarily with seemigly-mild-mannered housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, played by Catherine Keener. Unfortunately for Sylvia, Gertrude soon snaps and holds her hostage in harsh conditions until the former's eventual death. Bradley Whitford costars
as the prosecutor tasked with trying the case against Baniszewski. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
By instead focusing more on the character of Gertrude Baniszewski, the film relegates Sylvia Likens to a cypher with no real identity - she's simply a vessel for abuse.
i katalytika akadimaiki eksistorisi toy, poy problimatizei me tin idiazoysa sadistiki tis hroia stin parathesi sokaristikon skinon bias dihos peraitero diereynisi toys, afinei to myalo soy na kykloforei kai na kanei syndeseis mono toy, me ton idio tropo p
Gut wrenching performances, a well structured narrative, and a great cast makes "An American Crime" one of the finer movies to depict one of the most gruesome travesties of the twentieth century...
A misfire and the most problematic film at Sundance, this fact-based tale of child abuse is disturbing, appalling, and voyeuristic due to poor conception and execution by writer-director O'Haver who ironically has been wanting to make it for 20 years.
(Catherine) Keener, always a versatile actress, takes on the challenge of portraying perhaps one of the most unlikable villains in the history of true crime, and tries to find the humanity buried somewhere within her.
The real high point of this film is Catherine Keener's captivating performance in the role of the troubled and possessive Gertie, vacillating between disturbingly abusive and imploringly sympathetic the way only a truly manipulative psychopath really can.
Based on a true story from the 1960s this film tells the tragic tale of a young girl being tortured and held captive by a family for a months. Setting the court hearings as the frame for the reconstruction of the terrible events the film does never show the cruel details of young Sylvia's misery, which doesn't lessen
the more and more disturbing and gloomy impact on the viewer. The main perpetrator, Catherine Keener as a mother who's in over her head with six kids and no money, does not start out as a bad person, just someone who is slowly losing control over her life and her kid's future. How things could go so dire so quickly remains somewhat unexplained, which only increases the horror. Much scarier than the mum's horrible actions are all the people looking the other way or joining in because they are told to. The acting is accordingly intense. Only the dream sequence towards the end aims for cheap horror thrills and doesn't do justice to the film and the case. No fun film my any means, but a gloomy yet somewhat superficial look at the unexpected horrors behind family doors. For evil to succeed all it takes is good to look the other way.
Being always curious to watch movies based on true story, it was but obvious that I was compelled to watch this movie. I read a part of the plot and then decided to go for it to know what happened to that girl (Sylvia Likens), why she suffered, how much and how long. Of course, this wasn't a documentary, so I didn't
expect the exact depiction of the real life story. Yet it provided a generous amount of info, including a part of court transcriptions, about this tragic event.R.I.P. Sylvia Likens & R.I.H. all those who tortured her.[R.I.H. = Rot In Hell (just made it out; ain't sure whether such abbreviation exists currently.)]
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