American Violet (2008)

Director:

Tim Disney

Writer (WGA):

Bill Haney (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A single African-American mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished town in Texas. |

Plot Keywords:

Texas | False Accusation | Single Mother

Cast

Nicole Beharie	...	Dee Roberts
Will Patton	...	Sam Conroy
Alfre Woodard	...	Alma Roberts
Michael O'Keefe	...	Calvin Beckett
Tim Blake Nelson	...	David Cohen
Scott A. Martin	...	Jerry Arnold
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Malcolm Barrett	...	Byron White
Jackson Beals	...	Officer Carter
Michael Beasley	...	Tony Flair
Samantha Beaulieu	...	Mrs. Lloyd
Tody Bernard	...	Judge Pryor
Allen Boudreaux	...	Lawyer
Jeanne Bourgeois	...	Reporter #1
Andrew Buchler	...	Deposition Videographer
Kesha Bullard	...	Angry Woman
J. Omar Castro	...	Cisco
John Will Clay	...	Henry Franklin
Portia Cue	...	Laquathia
Daurice Cummings	...	Pedestrian
Charles S. Dutton	...	Reverend Sanders
Roslyn D. Evans	...	Magnolia
Jon Eyez	...	Bar Owner
Rodney Hebert	...	Cisco's Diner Patron
Louis Herthum	...	Officer Smith
Elton LeBlanc	...	Restaurant patron
Jerry Leggio	...	Norman
Jessie Blake Lough	...	Reporter #3
Christopher McCann	...	Joe Fisher
Hunter McGregor	...	Reporter
Lance E. Nichols	...	Mr. Moss
Zardis Nichols	...	Gayzeen
Henry Pelitire	...	Texas State Trooper
Lyssa Prine	...	Deposition Stenographer
Ryan Reinike	...	Audio Dude
Tarra Riggs	...	Lavosha
Glenn Robin	...	Court Bailiff
Sue Rock	...	Elizabeth Beckett
C. Stuart Rome	...	Bailiff
Michael Scialabba	...	Thomas Willis
Janet Shea	...	Helen
Chaz Smith	...	Still photographer
Terry Lee Smith	...	SWAT
Lindsay Soileau	...	Julie Beckett
Antoine Spillers	...	Mr. Roberts
Defecio Stoglin	...	Brian Green
Paul David Story	...	David Higgins
Deneen Tyler	...	Suzzannha
Jearl Vinot	...	County Sheriff
Tim Ware	...	Mark Shelby
David Warshofsky	...	Robert Foster
Karimah Westbrook	...	Claudia Johnson
Michael Wozniak	...	Bailiff
Xzibit	...	Darrell Hughes
Richard Zeringue	...	Store Manager

Also Known As:

American Inquisition (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, drug references and language.

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Uncommon Productions

Soundtrack:

Forgot it was Wrong

Gripping tale that becomes of the year's best films of 2008

Powerfully produced and directed, "American Violet" is a film based on the racially charged drug war scandal that rocked the town of Hearne,Texas,several years ago,which explores the devastating impact of America's "war on drugs". Directed by Tim Disney and written by Bill Haney,the film has a powerful story to tell,fueled by the powerful cast which includes Alfre Woodard,Will Patton,Tim Blake Nelson,rapper/actor Xzibit(in a electrifying performance),and Emmy Award winning actor Charles S. Dutton.

The film,as recounted here,the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 15 African-American residents of Hearne who were indicted in November 2000 on drug charges after being rounded up in a series of unlawful paramilitary drug "sweeps". These undercover drug busts,which led to the arrest of 15 percent of the African-American men between the ages of 18 to 34 in Hearne,were uniformly undertaken based on the uncorroborated word of a single unreliable confidental informant coerced by police to make cases. The film centers around Dee(played by newcomer Nicole Beharie)who works a shift at the local diner. The powerful local district attorney(Academy Award nominee Michael O'Keefe)leads an extensive drug bust,sweeping her Arlington Springs housing project with aggressive military tactics. Police drag Dee from work in handcuffs,dumping her in the squalor of the women's county prison. Indicated based on the uncorroborated word of a single and dubious police informant facing his own drug charges,Dee soon discovers that she has been charged as a drug dealer. Even though Dee has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her in the raid or any subsequent searches,she is offered a hellish choice:plead guilty and go home as a convicted felon with an attendant loss of her federal and state rights,thus jeopardizing the custody of her children and risking a long prison sentence. Despite the urgings of her mother(Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard),and with her freedom and custody of her children at stake,she chooses to fight the district attorney and the unyielding criminal justice system he represents in the state of Texas. Joined in an unlikely alliance with an ACLU attorney(Tim Blake Nelson),and former local narcotics officer(Will Patton),Dee risks everything in a battle that forever changes her life and the Texas justice system. "American Violet" is a hard-hitting Hollywood blockbuster of a film that tells the story of Regina Kelly,one of the people rounded up in a Tulia style drug bust in Hearne,Texas back in 1999. The Hearne tragedy would have never have come to light without Tulia in which people took a stand against the wrongdoings down there in which the people fought for their rights. The cast here in downright superb including the electrifying performance of newcomer Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts,who took on the State of Texas and won not only her case against her,but her freedom.

A gripping and suspenseful and emotional tale that became one of the official selected films for the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. And it is one of the year's best from 2008. The movie became the left-right combination of a scandal that changed the rules and regulations of the drug war in the State of Texas.