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By Charles Ealy
| Thursday, March 12, 2009, 01:01 PM
Inspired by real-life events,
this powerful narrative feature looks at a young, African American single mother of four who is arrested in a Hearne, Texas, drug roundup, even though police fail to find any drugs on her or in her apartment, and even though she has no prior drug record.
Instead, she is prosecuted based solely on the claims of a single confidential informant.
The only way she can get out of jail quickly is to plead guilty to felony drug charges. But she refuses, and with the help of an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, helps change Texas law to halt such single-informant arrests.
The names have been changed in the movie, possibly for legal reasons, but the real case involved Regina Kelly, and the ACLU lawyer was Graham Boyd.
In the movie, newcomer Nicole Beharie stars as the Regina Kelly character, Dee Roberts. She’s able to capture the complicated, tumultuous feelings that build up as she struggles against a system that’s stacked against her. Tim Blake Nelson, in a slyly witty turn, plays the ACLU lawyer. And Alfre Woodard stars as the matriarch who’s worried about her determined-to-resist daughter.
Although the movie can be heavy-handed, there is some justification. When faced with these kinds of outrages, it’s hard not to have an attitude.
Tim Disney (yes, of the famous family) directs.
Screening: 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the Paramount.
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