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Ellen Page in "An American Crime"

 

"Juno" made Ellen Page seem like a cute, fun, quirky, smart-assed comedic actress; "Hard Candy" showed her as a cute, smart, tough actress, dealing with a very complex situation, but with some twisted irony and sarcastic humor, still having that young teen look and attitude - I still worry about what her character had become; I understand very well WHY she did what she did, but the fact that she actually did it, makes me worry about her a lot (the character, not Ellen). Talk about 'Little Red Riding Hood EATS the Big Bad Wolf' - Very thought-provoking.

I just watched "An American Crime" - Holy Shit! It's the most disturbing kind of Horror Movie - It's based on real life! This movie won't make you feel good, in fact it might make you sick - We think the freak in Austria who locked up and raped his own daughter over 24 years, or Columbine or Virginia Tech was a modern sickness, well, this movie shows it's not.
It takes place in 1965, in Indianna - very 'middle America', Ellen plays a sweet young teenager, Sylvia Marie Likens, with a younger sister, and they move in with a single mother (played perfectly by Catherine Keener) who alread has six kids of her own - Things get so horribly depraved, you want it to stop, and it finally does - - When someone dies. Again, the most horrible part of this is that it really happened! I wonder (and worry) what happened to the other kids who were involved.

Ellen is a hell of an actress, not someone who will be type-cast. She truly seems to have the range of Jodie Foster, from Disney Films like the original "Freaky Friday", to truly serious films like "Taxi Driver", quirky like "Hotel New Hampshire", to serious scary drama like "The Accused", "Silence of the Lambs", and "The Brave One". I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does over the next few years. And after seeing "An American Crime", I'm worried about nightmares tonight - Wow!

If you're thinking of watching it, PLEASE read about it first in the IMDb first - You might want to skip it, it's that disturbing. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0802948/ (btw, the photos shown at the top of the page don't reflect the movie vey well) - This is truly a dark and disturbing movie, but I'm glad I saw it.

The true story is Here: http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/likens/1.html.

The words on Sylvia Marie Likens' memorial read:
I see a light; hope.
I feel a breeze; strength.
I hear a song; relief.
Let them through for they are the welcome ones.

 

 

R.I.P. Silvia

ps: it's coming on ShowTime -
Sat. May 10 @ 9:00 PM
Thur. May 15 @ 11:00 PM
and Tue. May 20 @ 8:15 PM

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Submitted by
Just_Alice (53 posts)
on May 8, 2008 - 9:13pm.
TAGS :: 
LoveLillianGish's picture

An American Crime

Submitted by
LoveLillianGish (178 posts)
on May 8, 2008 - 10:06pm.
I agree with your review. I'll be seeing this at a friends house this weekend as a mini screening, seeing as how she's the only one who was showtime. The film was so intense and had such a difficult story that it didn't get distribution in theatres. I wish it had because although it is bound to be incredibly disturbing I think its necessary to show this perspective. Yes it is a true story which makes it more and more disturbing, but it does shed light on how apathetic people can be when they know something dark and trully evil is happening in their own backyard. The town actually knew what was going on in that basement but didn't say anything, in fact the children tortured her as well. The content of the story is tough but true, just as MONSTER with Charlize Theron is true. I expect a lot from this film, to show how twisted society is, how cruel people can be and ultimately how some people completely lack any sense of morality or compassion. The casting seems perfect and as much as I will cringe seeing it (I hate torture...another true torture story is The Battle of Algiers) its true and shouldn't be ignored, just as countless people are ignored when in danger. (Just recently a woman called the police to say she was being attacked and the operator ignored her, they found her dead hours later) Overall this film may be sick and perverse but says a lot about people and how much harm they can do to others. (In a few towns over from me a woman escaped from a basement a man dug where he raped her for years and tortured her but when she went to the police she was told You've been watching Kiss the Girls...so...he was found later and is in jail)...so...hopefully An American Crime will be gripping, disturbing, gritty, and I'm hoping to walk away not being ill or crying. 
netgirl1983's picture

An American Crime / Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door

Submitted by
Chantal (271 posts)
on May 9, 2008 - 8:28am.

I actually saw this movie and I have to say, that while it is definitely good, and Ellen's performance (and Katherine Keener too) was superb, i found it kind of 'meh'.  It does not come to the brilliance of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, which is loosely based on the Sylvia Likens story. 

http://nba.alrightstill.net/2007/12/the-girl-next-door/

 

 

The Way The Cookie Crumbles

No Borders Allowed
Tara21's picture

ellen's arms = hot

Submitted by
Stefanie (196 posts)
on May 9, 2008 - 6:30pm.

I saw it today; it's a pretty good movie, I was deeply moved. All actors did a very good job. I can recommend it. The other movie I watched today is KM 31. Skip that piece of trash!

LoveLillianGish's picture

An American Crime Viewing

Submitted by
LoveLillianGish (178 posts)
on May 11, 2008 - 12:32am.
Ok so I saw it and the acting is amazing but I wasn't in love with the directing. It does a great job at making the viewer annoyed, angry, frustrate, depressed and cynical. Surprisingly Ellen Page to me wasn't the main focus. She was and she wasn't. Catherine Keener was more of the focal point. Both actresses were great. Even though it went to sundance it did seem like a made for TV movie, which was odd but their acting was disturbing and heartbreaking (the casting was perfect). The only downfall to me was the slow pacing. For an hour and a half film it seemed much longer. Aside from that I'm not going to lie, I cried. But then that could just be me and how I hate seeing violence.
baby firefly's picture

An American Crime

Submitted by
baby firefly (6 posts)
on May 11, 2008 - 7:12am.
this movie was so disturbing. when i saw it i found myself hating that Gertrude woman so much that i wished i could jump into the screen and stop her from doing all those terrible things:p and i have to agree that all the actors did a great job, most impressing was Catherine Keener she really nailed that ''mean'' character.
SolitaryAndWistful's picture

Saw it weeks ago

Submitted by
LauraLovesYou (144 posts)
on June 3, 2008 - 11:43pm.
and I still can't get it out of my head. I told a couple of my friends to watch it. I don't really know how to describe the movie to others. Usually when I speak of it I just tell them that the movie is brilliant, but horrible to watch. After I watched it I read everything I could about it. The piece on crime library tells a lot of what happened. Even though it may be hard to believe, but the actual story is much worse than the movie. I feel that the director/creator of "An American Crime" made the "villains" look better then they actually were. Paula never helped Silvia and was proud of beating her. Gertrude did much worse than what was shown in the movie. I saw "The Girl Next Door" after I saw "An American Crime" and feel that an american crime is much better, but only because it is truer to the story. I probably would have liked the girl next door had I not read the details of what really happened. 
ElaineAlaine's picture

I really want to see this

Submitted by
Haruka-papa (11 posts)
on June 6, 2008 - 4:19pm.

I really want to see this movie, not only because I absolutely adore Ellen Page, but because the story is downright disturbing and tragic. Haven't been able to find it at the local video store though, so... me. :C


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