An American Crime

Last updated

An American Crime
American crimemp.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Tommy O'Haver
Written byTommy O'Haver
Irene Turner
Produced by Christine Vachon
Jocelyn Hayes
Henry Winterstern
Kevin Turen
Hans C. Ritter
Starring Elliot Page [lower-alpha 1]
Catherine Keener
Hayley McFarland
Ari Graynor
James Franco
CinematographyByron Shah
Edited byMelissa Kent
Music by Alan Ari Lazar
Production
company
Distributed by Showtime
Release dates
  • January 19, 2007 (2007-01-19)(Sundance Film Festival)
  • May 10, 2008 (2008-05-10)(Showtime)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

An American Crime is a 2007 American crime drama film directed by Tommy O'Haver and starring Elliot Page [lower-alpha 1] and Catherine Keener. The film is based on the true story of the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis single mother Gertrude Baniszewski. It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. [1]

Contents

Because of internal problems with the film's original distributor, First Look International, the film was not released theatrically. [2] The Showtime television network officially premiered An American Crime on May 10, 2008. [3] The film was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Primetime Emmy (both for Keener's performance), and a Writers Guild of America Award.

Plot

In 1965, sixteen-year-old Sylvia Likens and her disabled fifteen-year-old sister, Jenny, are left in the care of an impoverished woman named Gertrude Baniszewski, a church acquaintance and mother to Paula, Johnny, Stephanie, and several younger children. Sylvia and Jenny's parents, Lester and Betty, work in the carnival circuit and leave on a tour. Gertrude agrees to take care of Sylvia and Jenny for a fee of $20 per week.

Lester's payment fails to arrive. Infuriated, Gertrude whips the Likens sisters with a belt. When the payment arrives with a letter from the parents, Gertrude discards the letter without telling the sisters. After Sylvia tells Paula's boyfriend about Paula's pregnancy, Gertrude forces Sylvia to apologize for "spreading lies" and has Johnny help Paula beat Sylvia until she complies. Jenny discovers the letter from their parents in the trash. Sylvia telephones them, but she is seen by the Baniszewski children. Gertrude falsely accuses them of stealing money from her for the call and burns Sylvia with a cigarette. She also accuses Sylvia of flirting with Andy, father of one of Gertrude's sons. She sexually abuses Sylvia and orders Johnny and Stephanie's boyfriend, Coy Hubbard, to push her down the basement stairs. As Jenny weeps, Gertrude says Sylvia will remain in the basement "until she learns her lesson".

Gertrude instructs her children to lie that Sylvia was sent to juvenile detention. With Gertrude's knowledge and approval, Johnny regularly invites the neighborhood children to the basement to abuse Sylvia. Paula soon feels guilty and tells her mother Sylvia has been punished enough. Gertrude ignores Paula, reminding her that there is blood on her hands as well. The Reverend arrives, hinting that Paula has confessed about her pregnancy and Sylvia's treatment. Gertrude lies to him that Sylvia was sent away. Once the Reverend leaves, Gertrude orders everyone into the basement, where she restrains Sylvia and begins branding the words "I'M A PROSTITUTE AND PROUD OF IT" on her stomach with a heated needle. Gertrude passes the needle to her teen neighbor Ricky Hobbs to finish the branding.

That night, Paula helps an injured Sylvia escape from the basement. Gertrude is awakened by Shirley and tries to catch Sylvia, but she is stopped by Paula. Ricky drives Sylvia to her parents. They are horrified by Sylvia's condition and drive her back to the Baniszewski house at her request to make sure Jenny is okay. When Sylvia enters, she sees a distraught Stephanie trying to revive Sylvia with Ricky's help, but to no avail, indicating that the entire escape and reunion with her parents had been a hallucination. Sylvia soon dies in the arms of Stephanie and Ricky.

Once the police arrive, Jenny agrees to testify in court in exchange for her freedom from the Baniszewskis' custody. At the murder trial, Jenny says Gertrude threatened her with the same treatment if she told anyone; Gertrude, being the final one called to testify, tries to frame her children and their friends for Sylvia's death. However, her attempts to frame all her witnesses backfire as she is sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and child abuse. Sylvia's voice narrates the fates of her other murderers. Gertrude, in her prison cell, briefly sees Sylvia's ghost.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place in 2006. Most of the cast were completely unaware of the real Likens murder until after they read the script, which was based largely on actual court transcripts from the case. [1] Catherine Keener originally turned down the role of Gertrude Baniszewski; however, after she could not get the story out of her head, she met with director Tommy O'Haver and agreed to do the film. [1] Elliot Page [lower-alpha 1] was the only choice to play Sylvia Likens.

Critical reception

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 43% of 14 critic reviews are positive for the film, with an average rating of 4.8/10. [4] Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times called it "one of the best television movies to appear in years" and praised Catherine Keener's portrayal of Gertrude Baniszewski. [5]

Accolades

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Credited as Ellen Page

Related Research Articles

<i>American Beauty</i> (1999 film) 1999 American black comedy-drama film

American Beauty is a 1999 American black comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, played by Mena Suvari. Annette Bening stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney co-star. Academics have described the film as satirizing how beauty and personal satisfaction are perceived by the American middle class; further analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, materialism, self-liberation, and sexual grooming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Agutter</span> English actress (born 1952)

Jennifer Ann Agutter is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in East of Sudan, Star!, and two adaptations of The Railway Children; the BBC's 1968 television serial and the 1970 film version. In 1971 she also starred in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and the TV film The Snow Goose, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama.

<i>The Client</i> (novel) 1993 legal thriller by John Grisham

The Client (1993) is a legal thriller written by American author John Grisham, set mostly in Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana. It is Grisham's fourth novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Elliot</span> American actress

Jane Elliot is an American actress, best known for her role as Tracy Quartermaine in the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital.

<i>Rescue Me</i> (American TV series) American firefighter comedy-drama TV series

Rescue Me is an American dramedy television series that aired on FX from July 21, 2004, to September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Keener</span> American actress (born 1959)

Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for Being John Malkovich (1999) and for her portrayal of author Harper Lee in Capote (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Weitz</span> American actor (born 1943)

Bruce Peter Weitz is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the TV series Hill Street Blues, which ran from 1981 until 1987. For his role in the series, he received six nominations for Emmy Awards and two for Golden Globe Awards, winning the 1984 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

<i>Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2</i> 1987 film by Lee Harry

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is a 1987 American slasher film edited, co-written with Joseph H. Earle, and directed by Lee Harry. It is the sequel to 1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night, and was followed by Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! in 1989. Its plot focuses on Ricky Caldwell, the brother of Billy Chapman, and his own trauma regarding his parents' Christmas Eve murders, which triggers his own killing spree. The film relies heavily on flashbacks, utilizing approximately 30 minutes of stock footage from the original film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sylvia Likens</span> 1965 child murder in Indianapolis, US

Sylvia Marie Likens was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. The abuse lasted for three months, occurring incrementally, before Likens died from her extensive injuries and malnourishment on October 26, 1965, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Vachon</span> American film producer

Christine Vachon is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Miles</span> American actress

Joanna Miles is an American actress. She received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1973 film production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

Tommy O'Haver is an American film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Women's Prison</span> Prison in Indiana

The Indiana Women's Prison was established in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the country. The original location of the prison was one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Indianapolis. It has since moved to 2596 Girls School Road, former location of the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility. As of 2005, it had an average daily population of 420 inmates, most of whom are members of special-needs populations, such as geriatric, mentally ill, pregnant, and juveniles sentenced as adults. By the end of 2015, the population increased to 599 inmates. Security levels range from medium to maximum. The prison holds Indiana's only death row for women; however, it currently has no death row inmates. The one woman under an Indiana death sentence, Debra Denise Brown, had her sentence commuted to 140 years imprisonment in 2018 and is being held in Ohio.

<i>The Girl Next Door</i> (2007 film) 2007 film by Gregory M. Wilson

Jack Ketchum's The GIRL Next Door is a 2007 American thriller horror film directed by Gregory M. Wilson from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. It is based on Jack Ketchum's 1989 novel of the same name, which was inspired by the real-life murder of Sylvia Likens, to whom the movie is dedicated.

<i>Free for All</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Free for All is an American animated series and sitcom created by (Randall) Brett Merhar for Showtime. The series, set in Colorado, follows the day-to-day life of Johnny Jenkins, an innocent 19-year-old college student who has to deal with a bitter, cigarette smoking grandmother and a coarse, sometimes-violent, alcoholic father, in a rather dysfunctional family while his friend, Clay, is living large with the settlement money he got from suing a taco restaurant for personal injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley McFarland</span> American actress (b. 1991)

Hayley McFarland is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Emily Lightman in the Fox crime drama series Lie to Me. In the supernatural horror film The Conjuring, McFarland portrayed Nancy Perron.

<i>Hack!</i> 2007 American film

Hack! is a 2007 American horror film directed and written by Matt Flynn. The film centres on a group of students who, while on a field trip, become victims in a snuff film, and stars Danica McKellar, Jay Kenneth Johnson, William Forsythe, Sean Kanan, Juliet Landau, Justin Chon, Travis Schuldt, Adrienne Frantz and Gabrielle Richens. The film was released in the UK on July 20, 2007, before receiving a US release on December 11, 2007.

<i>Guilty Hands</i> 1931 film

Guilty Hands is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis and Madge Evans and directed by W. S. Van Dyke, with uncredited assistance from Barrymore. The story concerns an attorney who murders a man who wants to marry his daughter.

<i>The Most Hated Woman in America</i> 2017 film by Tommy OHaver

The Most Hated Woman in America is a 2017 American biographical drama film directed by Tommy O'Haver and written by O'Haver and Irene Turner. It stars Melissa Leo as Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

<i>Rest in Pieces</i> (film) 1987 Spanish/U.S.-made slasher film

Rest in Pieces is a 1987 horror film directed by José Ramón Larraz and starring Scott Thompson Baker, Lorin Jean Vail, and Dorothy Malone. Its plot follows a young wife and her husband who inherit her wealthy aunt's mansion, only to find the home harbors dark secrets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Broeske, Pat H. (January 13, 2007). "A Midwest Nightmare, Too Depraved to Ignore". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  2. McNary, Dave (March 2, 2007). "First Look's Winterstern resigns". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. "TV Tonight: An American Crime on Showtime". BuzzSugar. May 10, 2008. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.
  4. "An American Crime". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  5. Bellafonte, Ginia (May 10, 2008). "Home-Grown, Everyday Sadism". The New York Times . Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  6. "An American Crime". Emmy Awards. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  7. "TV trio rack up WGA nominations". Variety. December 8, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  8. "Golden Globe Awards 2009". goldenglobes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2023.