danceability
Excellent True StoryBased on the true story of Dee Roberts A 24 year-old African American single mother of four living in a small Texas town. When she is dragged away from work one day in handcuffs, and then dumped in the womens county prison. The local district attorney leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her housing project with military precision. Dee soon discovers that she has been charged as a drug dealer. Even though she has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her in the raid, she is offered a hellish choice: plead guilty and go home as a convicted felon or remain in prison, jeopardizing her custody and risking a long prison sentence. She chooses to fight the unyielding criminal justice system, risking everything in a battle that forever changes her life and the Texas justice system
nathan-yeo
First off the cast was delicious, Nicole BEHARIE I could watch all day. I've been a big fan of Micheal O'KEEFE since I saw him in "The Great Santini". Here he plays the racist DA who flies a helicopter over the local projects. He'd like to chase everybody out of there but the county can't afford too. However when the Federal Government will give money to counties over drug-dealing convictions he now has the recourses to do just that. He raids them arrests everybody for felony dealing which puts them in jail. If they plead to get out then they have a felony record can't live in the projects and can't vote against him. But one woman stands up and fights the charges and in doing so reveals that the DA trumped up charges and his scheme falls apart before his eyes. This movie gets a 10 because it also blames the victims for the situation they got themselves into. it delves into the mentality of the project people. My only problem is I've extensively read articles when this happened and the actual even is more interesting than the movie.
Spirit Equality
Lead actress Nicole Beharie makes a spectacular film debut here, with powerful supporting work from everyone involved. The film artfully brings to the fore serious questions about how the drug war is being waged. Based on court depositions and actual events of a specious drug raid based on (minor spoiler ahead) the word of a coerced informant to rig conviction stats, this is a wake-up call to anyone who was not aware of the politics of the drug "war". The subplot about the child custody struggle between the lead and Xzibit's character was also harrowing. There is also subtle interaction across racial lines that shows the complexity of how people interact in the south, particularly in the initial restaurant exchange between Dee and two patrons and between Dee and her restaurant employer. No one here is portrayed as a perfect angel, making the film feel very true to life.
manaen manaen
A competent edition of the familiar formula: oppressed individual or group, with help from outside hero(es), stand(s) up for what's right against local bad guys and (drum roll, dramatic pause, cymbal crash) wins!!! As my wife said, "This isn't a movie, it's TV." . This movie's plot is reliably predictable and the bad guys are thoroughly 2-dimensional so you won't have to worry about missing anything when stepping out for munchies or about any lingering sympathy for the bad guys when they get their oh-so-well-deserved comeuppance. . But Nicole Beharie is nice to look at and the world is in order by the end of the film, so you can spend a couple hours without becoming too annoyed -- or involved.
