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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : Tommy O'Haver
Ellen Page (Juno)
Catherine Keener (Into the Wild)
James Franco (Pineapple Express)
Nick Searcy (Timber Falls)
Supplied By : First Look Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : August. 20, 2008
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| PLOT Based on a true story that shocked the nation in 1965 the film recounts one of the most shocking crimes ever committed against a single victim. Sylvia and Jennie Fae Likens the two daughters of traveling carnival workers are left for an extended stay at the Indianapolis home of single mother Gertrude Baniszewski and her seven children. Times are tough and Gertrude's financial needs cause her to make this arrangement before realizing how the burden will push her unstable nature to a breaking point. What transpires in the next three months is both riveting and horrific leaving one child dead and the rest scarred for life. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW AN AMERICAN CRIME, is a film based on the 1966 case, which convicted Gertrude Baniszewski to life in prison for first degree murder, for the death of 16 year old Sylvia Marie Likens. For more information and the true facts about this horrible crime, click HEREHERE for the Sylvia Likens Wikipedia page. In the film, Sylvia and Jenny Likens, the children of two carnival workers, were used to life on the road, traveling from town to town with their parents while they worked. But recently, the parents had split up, and life on the road had become rough and strenuous on the marriage. In hope at keeping the marriage and their close family together, Lester suggests they find someone to watch over their two Daughters. With no family nearby in the state of Indiana, the couple looks to Gertrude Baniszewski, a woman with whom they met in church. Gertrude, a sing;e mother of 6 children, who is barely making ends meet agrees to take on the responsibility when Lester proposes it to her, saying he would pay her $20 a week. At first, life for the Likens girls at the Baniszewski house is going ok....that is until Gertrude Baniszewski, an ailing asthmatic and a sufferer of mental disorders snaps after she says she she has not received payment from their parents. From this point on, the Likens girls are sort of frowned upon, by the Baniszewski family, especially Gertrude. this goes so far that the Baniszewski children begin reporting all sorts of lies to their mother about the eldest Likens child Sylvia, which leads her to seemingly punish the girl for no reason at all.It seems that with each punishment she lashes out on Sylvia, Gertrude's mental state gets more and more severe. But one incident that pushes Gertrude to the edge, was not a lie at all, but rather a truth that Sylvia accidentally lets out concerning Baniszewski's oldest child, Paula. That truth was that Paula is pregnant by an older married man. Word about this spreads all over the childrens' school and is a hot topic among the students. By the time this word reaches Gertrude, she is convinced that this is another lie Sylvia has made up to further slander her children, of which she believes are pure. By this time, Gertrude decides to separate Sylvia from the other kids by keeping her in the basement of her home. It is here when Sylvia is tortured for an extended amount of time, without food or water. At the order of Gertrude, the Baniszewski children tie her up, beat her and perform malicious acts, one of the most heinous being a human branding, in which the words "I am a Prostitute and proud of it" are burned into Sylvia's stomach. A few months back on the site, I reviewed the film JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, which is a film that was based on a book by Ketchum, that had been loosely based on the crimes committed against Sylvia Likens. With many things altered and only the core of the story remaining, I was still quite moved by the subject matter of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. In production before THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, AN AMERICAN CRIME, is one that follows this story more closely and is actually based solely on the story. While even this story takes liberties in changing a few occurrences, for what i'm guessing is for dramatic purposes, AN AMERICAN CRIME uses the actual court transcripts to paint the gloomy and horrific portrait of true human depravity that was this tragic event. I will tell you that I am a big true crime buff, so I like reading of true cases and stuff, but the story of Sylvia Likens, as to be one of, if not the worst crime I has read about when it comes to a crime committed against a single person, and to hear the actual description of everything everyone had done to her is just vile and sometimes hard to fathom or take in. Yes, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR displayed a few acts that were lightly exaggerated and more dramatized, but this film is less dramatized and more realistic, as these are the true happenings, not to mention that most of these actions are reenacted in great detail. From the film, it's displayed that the Baniszewski family is poor and that Gertrude is heavily traumatized by the stress, but when around others she puts on a happy face, but behind closed doors she couldn't be more pathetic and crazy. She becomes like a leader of sorts, and her troops are her children, she is so mentally gone that she virtually brainwashes her young children to the point where they believe that it;s ok to beat, torture, and do just about anything they want to Sylvia, and it turns out, that from all accounts that i've heard that they got great joy out of it. It as if Sylvia had become a human plaything, so much so that the Baniszewski brats begun inviting other neighborhood kids to "check out" their secret kept in the basement. As the other kids came down to see, they would also begin taking part in the torture, burning her with lit cigarettes and what have you. While watching and this particular part of the film, and knowing that this indeed happened, I couldn't help but to sit her and shake my head in disbelief.....how could someone be so soulless? was the question I had. Bringing this true story to life are some great performances by the cast. Ellen Page, who seems to always bring her all to every project she does, no matter how big or small it may be, is rightfully in the role of Sylvia. Ellen brings to the role just what is needed to this role, and that is realism...after all this isn't a character created by some imaginative writer, it's a real person, and Page portrays her as she should. Sylvia is the "character" that you are drawn to and if you have a heart at all, she'd be the one you should sympathize with anyhow, with that said, Ellen Page, here provides yet another outstanding performance. One character, that is indeed more like character, is that of Gertrude. I say this because, although she is displayed just as she was...heartless and abusive, as well as a little crazy, it seems as if the writers took it upon themselves to tone down just how bad off Gertrude was. Here in AN AMERICA CRIME, yes Baniszewski is displayed as crazy, but at times she also sometimes finds compassion for Sylvia, and some kind of remorse for what she was doing. But from what I have read and researched, it seems as if the real Gertrude Baniszewski, never had any remorse and was fully aware of the crimes and liked it. Perhaps she was tone downed for the audiences' sake, because had she been portrayed "true to the bone", so to speak, it would've been uncalled for and a bit too much. But nonetheless, Catherine Keener, hands in a performance that was nominated for an Emmy, if that tells you anything.... her performance here is great, despite it's toned down nature. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 Not as visual as THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, when it comes to the violence, there are a few instances where it is hard to watch, like when the words are being burned into Sylvia's skin. But the suggestive violence is more intense, for example, the scene in which Gertrude Baniszewski forces her to shove a coke bottle into herself, as well as seeing the children kick and burn her skin with cigarettes. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 Since the case was based in the 1960s, a lot of 60s era tunes are played. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, I thought it fit this time period piece perfectly. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM This is a great look at a part of American history that honestly, wasn't so great, in fact it was awful. More factual and more complete, AN AMERICAN CRIME cuts in and out between the events and the trail, and I felt both elements were equal, there was never a time where I felt there was more one and not the other. Some when watching this will probably prefer THE GIRL NEXT DOOR because it's more visually violent. But to me, Sylvia Likens' case shouldn't be treated as a spectacle, sure when thinking of the case violent images come to mind, but at least when I think of this crime, I can't help but to have sympathy. To some it up, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR is undeniably a great film, but more than half of it is fictitious(which isn't a bad thing), and it's gore and violence serves for entertainment, AN AMERICA CRIME on the other hand almost entirely relies on facts and in the end feels more like an epic movie, if you want to learn more about the true crime, AN AMERICAN CRIME would be the one to see. |
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