| Review:
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In no way a Disney extravaganza, though Walt Disney
happens to be the great uncle of American Violet director
Tim Disney, this raw, heart wrenching investigative docudrama
uncovers the sort of discomforting, concealed when not buried
history that in an odd trend lately, is more likely to make
its way into movies than the news headlines. And just as
commendable, is Disney's inclination to bypass, though not
entirely, the usual condensing of complex social ills into
stock villains.***
Young African American actress Nicole Beharie is radiant
in her first starring role as Dee Roberts (ba sed on the
actual case of Regina Kelly), a 24 year old rural Texas
waitress and struggling single mother of four daughters,
who along with many of the African American youth residing
in her low income housing project in Melody, is framed and
swept up in a drug raid. Though these mass arrests are apparently
nothing new in this small town ruled with an iron fist by
the racist local authorities, Dee's courageous refusal to
accept a guilty plea bargain and insist on her innocence
despite seemingly insurmountable odds, including loss of
her job and potential custody of her children to an abusive
old boyfriend (Xzibit), was unheard of.***
And when an ACLU legal team from up North headed by
David Cohen (Tim Blake Nelson), along with local white attorney
Sam Conroy (Will Patton) champion her cause, a vile pattern
of injustice is uncovered. Among the deplorable details
that come to light in the film and really did transpire
in Melody, are frequent drugs sweeps as a source of income
for the town, from funds provided by the Feds based on the
number of drug enforcement arrests, and as a post-segregation
form of disenfranchisment because convicted felons permanently
lose the right to vote.***
The violet of the title refers to Dee's wilting house
plant, which miraculously springs back to life because of
her refusal to accept defeat and allow it to perish. Also
a symbol of unbending resilience is Will Patton as the rock
solid, quietly determined attorney who must face off against
his own=2 0town while defending the black community. He
conveys, along with Beharie, an uncommon dignity and passion
celebrating the triumph of the human spirit against overwhelming
odds.
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