Genres

Visitors Review

tom b 2012-05-24 22:27:44

how could someone do that to someone

I would hope that nver happens to anyone again. The girl next door was a bad account of it. I hope that i never see a crime like that again

moisan4 2012-05-24 14:37:45

The Real Story

I just read this link:http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/likens/1.html and Ihave to say the horrific nature of this movie pales in comparison tothe actual events. What Sylvia Likens endured was beyond belief or thatof any imagination. I am truly shaken just attempting to comprehend thehorrors visited upon that girl. And any attempt at imaging how anyhuman could do that that to a fellow human being is utterlyincomprehensible. It's a tragedy of such malicious proportions my mindis incapable of accepting such truths about the vicious intent of humanbehaviour. I lack the vocabulary to describe these events or the impactthey had on me by simply becoming aware of them. But I can tell youthis, there is no word in any know language that could accuratelydescribe the absolute horror of Sylvia Likens life and death.

2012-05-22 16:11:36

A disturbing truth...

This review is from: An American Crime (DVD) I just finished watching this movie that was very very disturbing to watch to the end. And to think this movie is based on actual events that took place back in the 60's where everyone was to afraid to seek help or even talk to anyone about it. Excellent and credible acting done by Ellen Page and Catherine Keener (very far from 40 yr old Virgin). I would recommend this movie to anyone seeking real-life stories turned into movies---but BE ADVISED!!! it is extremely difficult to watch any young teen get tortured and treated the way she did, even if it's a movie. I just about cried through the parts when the torture began until the end. And I bought this DVD used, but I don't think I will be able to watch this again--because you can almost feel her pain when it happens in the movie.

Phantasm01 2012-05-21 22:54:20

A very important film that shouldn't be ignored

Not many films make me feel sick to my stomach and not many make mefeel such a profound sadness that I'm helpless to do anything but cry.An American Crime chronicles the startling and horrific events that ledto the death of sixteen year old Sylvia Likens. The story we're toldcomes directly from the court transcripts in the case of Baniszewskivs. The State of Indiana. As the story unfolds we slowly spiral from anormal, small town world populated with youthful innocence to one ofabsolute and inexplicable horror.The story of the events that led up to Likens' death is short andtragic, with many people to fault, including her own parents andsister. Her parents negligently entrusted her and her little sister'scare to a woman they had only met once. This woman, GertrudeBaniszewski, was mother to a brood of children and accepted Sylvia andher sister into her home for the simple fact that she needed the moneythe Likens were offering. But Baniszewski wan't fit to care for theLikens' daughters and within a few months, Sylvia had become the victimof Gertrude's escalating abuse. Sylvia eventually became a prisoner inBaniszewski's basement for an excruciating 27 days, where she wasabused and tortured by Baniszewski, her children and also a number ofother neighborhood children. How could this have happened? How could somany people be involved in such a horrible crime? How could her ownsister not have gone to the police before it was too late? After Sylviadied as a result of her beatings, Baniszewski's was found guilty of hercrimes and sentenced to life in prison. Her children and the othersinvolved were also found guilty and sentenced, each one eventuallyserving two years in prison. While Baniszewski's crimes areunforgivable, the thing I personally found most disturbing was how herexample led to her children's and the other children's acts of cold,cruel, brutality.The world we are introduced to in AAC is not sensational, on thecontrary, it is simple, ordinary, common and comfortable. Theproduction design and cinematography work in harmony, lulling theviewer into believing they are witness to a more innocent time andplace and as the story builds the Norman Rockwell veneer slowly beginsto chip away until it is displaced by a world of suffocating doom. Theresulting effect is that AAC gets under our skin and disturbs us in aprofound way since these crimes could have been committed in ourneighborhood, by our neighbors and possibly by people we knew andtrusted. Most disturbing of all is the realization these crimes couldhave involved us.It would be easy to demonize Baniszewski and all the others involved inLikens death, but writer/director Tommy O'Haver chooses to humanizethem instead. In doing so their horrible acts of abuse and torturelinger and beg the recurring question: how could they have done this?When we see the faces of the children in court, we don't see the facesof psychopaths, we see innocent children with no explanation for theiractions. Only Baniszewski herself comes across as a detached,delusional and remorseless criminal and Catherine Keener has to beapplauded for somehow managing to add complexity and insight to someoneguilty of such crimes. Keener's subtle performance aside, the standoutin this movie is Ellen Page who breaks our heart when we watch herstripped of her innocence.Before AAC, Page drew raves for her performances in Hard Candy andJuno. In both those films she played a precocious, smart assed hipsterwho had the world on the tip of her little finger. Here Page playsLikens as a sensitive, kind and considerate sixteen year old and whenthe world comes crashing down upon her, the suffering she endures isheartbreaking and convincingly rendered by Page. I'm sure few willagree with me, but Page's breakthrough performance isn't in Juno, it'sin An American Crime.

Sara 2012-05-19 12:00:32

Very sad but true

Before renting this movie, I have seen some of Ellen Page's other movies, but this movie is far from dramatic. This is a real crime story about a teenager named Sylvia Likens who ends up being tortured, bruised, physically and yes is sexually abused by the household children, the caretaker and neighborhood children who can't stay away from the chaos. Yes, this movie was very disturbing in some scenes that show that Ellen Page's portrayal of Sylvia goes through when she ends up being beaten. Most likely, it is very true that child abuse happens to any child, but in this movie which is set up in 1965 is the saddest, most disturbing film that i had ever seen. I wouldn't recommend anyone to watch this movie unless you really like real true crime movies that are disturbing. This however was a good movie and the acting was very good.

2012-05-18 14:54:49

Did I see this somehwere else?

This stroyline sounds A LOT like from the movie-- "The Girl Next Door" is it a documentary made of it? Is it taken from that movie or vice versa? sure seems to me like same movie-different title......

2012-05-14 02:36:55

The Girl Next Door was 100 times better.

There were 2 movies created about this same story -- An American Crime & Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. While "An American Crime is supposedly closer to the true story of the death of Sylvia Liken, it is much tamer and over dramatised. Too many times the punishment that Sylvia unfortunately and tragically endured is overshadowed by the poor acting job of Ellen Page. Even when Sylvia dies, it is confusing. Instead of the actual incident that killed her, we see her as a ghost getting her parents to come to the home and rescue her and her sister, only to discover that she has really died. If you like soap opera's then you will like this film. If not, it is my recommendation that you stay away from this movie.The other film I mentioned "Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door" is loosely based on this same crime (very loosely). It happens at a different time, the names of those involved with the crime have had their names changed, and there are a few added scenes that add to the suspense of probably what really happened to this poor girl. Although I do believe it is the better film of the two, I will only give it a 3 star rating. Some of the scenes in it are very graphic and may cause the viewer to turn away in disgust and disbelief. So watch it at your own risk.

Master_minde4 2012-05-13 14:14:25

This story broke my heart

First of all, i am Egyptian i did not hear about that movie tillyesterday I cried during & after the movie. Even i can not sleep Itried to understand that all of that was from the past, but i couldn't.How can a group of people unite together for such an evil act? How didthey do that to such an angel? I here in Egypt , no not only Egypt,butthe middle east never heared about a scandle like that. There was nojustice in this crime. The monster who tortured the girl must have beenexecuted. She deserves no mercy. I hope that every parent in the wholeworld will take good care of their kids & never leave them withheartless strangers, for God sake at the end, i am sorry for my badEnglish & i am working on it

EXodus25X 2012-05-12 01:23:16

The Girl Next Door: An American Crime

First off to anyone that has, will or wants to see this film I wouldalso suggest The Girl Next Door, which is based on the same story buttakes liberties as this film does. It is very interesting to see thedifferences between the two interpretations of the same events. Theother interesting thing is, in my opinion these movies are perfect ifyou put them together, everything one does wrong the other does rightand visa versa. An American Crime was great in its more detailed set upto these events along with it's amazing court room scenes that added amuch need closer element that The Girl Next Door was desperatelylacking. On the other hand The girl Next Door was much better atvisualizing the actual events, don't get me wrong what happened to thisgirl was horrible, but in An American Crime it was just not portrayedas well by Ellen Page. I know that sounds weird for me to say too, butI assume that it was either the directors choice or an attempt atrealism, but Ellen Page's character just shut down. Were as in The GirlNext Door, we saw more of a fighter in Blythe Auffarth's portrayal ofthe same character, someone who was changed by the experience. Also TheGirl Next Door did not shy away from the violence as An American Crimedid, now for some I'm sure that is a blessing, because I have heard ofseveral people who could not finish watching The Girl Next Door forthat very reason, and because these situations all involved young kidsit is completely understandable. My overall point is that togetherthese two films would make a wonderful film, but definitely not a filmfor everyone. Both films still do leave me wondering, what exactly didhappen, exactly, so many liberties have been taken that some of thefacts are a little fuzzy.

Pharoah 2012-05-11 13:41:15

A Truly Disturbing Story That Everyone Should Know About!!!!

Let me begin by saying, I believe this story is one that everyoneshould be familiar with. And for that, I would recommend people seethis movie. But I do not think the film, in itself, was the quality Iwould've liked it to be.The scenes seem to be too conservative at times. And the flashbacks towhat had happened, previously, give the viewer an outside perspectiveof things. And it is that omniscient point of view that keeps theviewer from really becoming involved in the story.I think Ellen Page did an incredible job of acting. And I truly loveher movies. But I wonder if the people making this film were so afraidof insulting certain persons that they did not want to submergethemselves into a truly emotional reenactment of what had actuallyhappened.Bottom line: If you want a story that is presented to you in segments,then by all means, watch this movie. But if you want a truly disturbingfilm that puts you in the eyes of the victim, and makes you feel sickto your stomach... then there are other movies based on the same eventthat are much more involved!!!

2012-05-11 11:53:07

Hard to take, but not to be missed

Powerhouse acting by Ellen Page and Catherine Keener, plus sensitive, intelligent direction by Tommy O'Haven, make "An American Crime" a must-see for aficionados of the true crime genre. A skillful balance between straightforward storytelling (a hallmark of the genre) and a handful of creative flourishes that season rather than undercut the truth of the story (I'm especially thinking of a heartbreaking "what if...?" scenario near the end of the film) combine to deliver a memorable package. Just be prepared for an almost unbearably sad and tragic story. The DVD features excellent image and sound, but unfortunately no extra features of note. I would have liked to see a half hour or so featurette, laden with interviews with the real people involved in the case, so we could get the "story behind the story". But don't let that shortcoming of the DVD stop you from seeing this extremely well-crafted film, if you can take the subject matter.

mvieira-c 2012-05-11 08:15:13

Insane

I just finished watching this movie...I haven't got many words rightnow. I am in a state of shock and terror. My mind is frozen withthoughts that can not be explained. Just the thought of this moviebeing based on a real story of an Indiana housewife that in her fullconsciousness treats Sylvia as a piece of nothing...it's mind bogging.In the 1960's Gertrude had 6 kids of her own and two more that she gavehousing to: Sylvia and Jennie. Their parents worked on fairs andtherefore decided to leave the girls with this woman they didn't evenknow. In my point of view, the parents couldn't guess what was about tohappen but was it correct to leave their kids behind so they wouldargue less? This was their excuse. The following events just killed mea little on the inside. How can someone be so cruel to another humanbeing? How can someone be so despised by an equal? And then have thecourage to testify against all she's done? I could not keep my eyes offthe screen, everything around me was ignored. My mind was completelyshut down. It is such a sad yet touching story. It portrays very wellthe emotionless characteristics of some people in our non-civilizedsociety. Outstandingly moving! I do not recommend if you are too sensitive. It is a very seriousmatter.Thank you very much for this piece of work.

2012-05-07 16:24:15

Pussyfoot.

This review is from: An American Crime (DVD) An American Crime is a film that attempts to tackle the grizzly horrors of the 1965 murder of Sylvia Likens. For those of you who are not familiar with the actual case, sylvia Likens was a 16 year old girl that was tortured to death under the control of a 37 year old woman named Gertrude Baniszewski. Gertrude was paid by Sylvia's parents to care for her and her handicapped 15 year old sister Jenny Likens. What makes this case even more shocking and surreal is that not only did Gertrude take part in the torture herself, but she also managed to orchestrate an atmosphere in which her own kids along with various other neighborhood children took part in the abuse of Sylvia Likens willingly. What started out as some rather severe punishment, soon escalated into such extreme illegal abuse that Sylvia was subsequently imprisoned in the Baniszewski family cellar so that she wouldn't escape and go tell the athorities. In her time of torture in the Baniszewski house, Sylvia was pushed down staircases repetitively, bathed in scalding hot water, had lit cigarettes put out all over her body, and had the words " I'm a prostitute and proud of it" carved into her belly along with a grotesque number 3. Other acts of sickening barbarity included being tortured in various sexual ways, being hosed off with cold water when she soiled herself, being beaten, punched, kicked, and flipped over the backs of other kids Judo style. Eventually she was left tied up in the cellar, unfed and filthy, which caused her to become weak and feverish, while at the same time, her multitude of open sores became infected. As for Sylvia's little sister Jenny, she was successfully presured into keeping her mouth shut and looking the other way by the threat of suffering the same consequences herself. Though there are no fathomable excuses as to how or why a collective group of people could find it in themselves to take their frustrations out on a captive slave for months on end without ever once giving in to their own conscience, the actual motive seems to stem from jealousy. Gertrude Baniszewski resented Sylvia Likens for being prettier and purer then herself and her own 17 year old daughter Paula Baniszewski. This resentment turned into one of the most horrific crimes in American history.The very nature of this story presents any film maker brave enough to tackle it with quite the paradox. It is not just the torture that makes this story very problematic in our highly prudish society, but the fact that the participants were all underaged children outside of Gertrude herself. Naturally there would be a reluctance to delve too deeply into the brutalility for fear of not achieving that highly coveted R rating from the MPAA. Yet the abuse and torture has to be shown in some believable way since it is the very power that guides this story. To candy coat these atrocities too much would in effect neuter the film of its edge. Also, the film makers are being asked to depict physical abuse in what is the most subjective of all mediums. It is very tricky business to depict physical abuse on film because it is all too easy to turn what was meant to be shocking and horrific into an unplanned all out laugh riot. It's a delicate balance of tactful story telling made all the more precarious since it forces the film makers to be brave enough to take some real chances.No guts, no glory.Instead of tackling this tantilizing conundrum head on, writer and director Tommy O'Haven decided to smooth over the brunt force of the more visceral aspects of this story as much as he possibly could. In order to do so, he used three different techniques as buffers against the impact that an actual blow by blow account of this case would of had on an audience. One technique was the use of a rather gimmicky surprise ending that suffice to say, was clunky at best and deserving of little more then a sigh of contempt from any movie patron worth their weight in sophistication. Another technique was the use of voice overs in the beginning and end of the film by Ellen Page. This too seemed rather gimmicky in that it was barrowed a bit too directly from American Beauty, and served only to invoke a forced responce of manipulated sadness from the audience at the appropriate time in the movie. In the beginning of the film, Ellen Page's voice over tells us how much she loves to go to the carnival and ride the merry go round even though she knows that she is far too old for it. She says that she likes to ride it because it makes her feel safe. At the end of the film there is another voice over, presumably now from Sylvia Likens ghost which plays over the top of an image of Ellen Page riding a lit up merry go round at night in an abandoned carnival. Ellen Page has this sad forlorn expression etched onto her pretty face, as she hugs the pole of her merry go round horse while traveling round and round, lost and alone. "As for me I returned to the carnival." Her ghost is saying over this tearful image, "The one place I always felt safe."I know that syrup like this works on a lot of people, but if you ask me, syrup only catches flies.Flashback to the Future.The most over used technique in An American Crime was the use of flash backs. There are so many flash backs in this film, that Martin Scorsese would be rolling over in his grave if he wasn't still alive. This is a technique that if not handled carefully, only manages to become intrusive to the impact of a scene. In An American Crime, these flash backs pop up every time the abuse escalates and the film starts to become good and intense. One moment we are heading into a shocking situation in which there is no escape, the next, we are jolted into the safe controlled confines of the court proceedings that are taking place in the future. In one three minute long sequence of abuse, this technique was used no less then 11 times. These continual interruptions only succed in killing the power of the moment. It is not unlike catching a fish, but instead of reeling it in, you cut the line as soon as you get one on the hook. The question I would have to ask Tommy O'haven is, why make a film about this kind of subject matter if you are too scared to actually let the audience experience the power of the story uninterrupeted in the first place? He is only defeating the purpose by constantly pulling the chicken switch every time things start to become a bit hairy.An American Crime's ill attempted crucifix masturbation scene. Another film that is plagiorized by An American Crime is The Exorcist by William Friedkin. Now inless you have been living in a cave for the past 35 years, you will undoubtedly know that the crucifix masturbation scene in The Exorcist is easily one of the most infamous moments ever to be captured on film. An American Crime tried to have its own all powerful infamous moment too, in what was meant to be its five star super delux shocker scene. Yet, instead of designing this scene in an entirely original way, Tommy O'Haven chose to use the crucifix masturbation scene in The Exorcist as an exact blueprint to try to achieve success with his own big moment.The big scene in An American Crime is the bottle rape scene, its sequence of action plays out in this order.1- First we see the bottle, then Sylvia is ordered to insert it into herself by Gertrude, Sylvia says that she can't, and Gertrude tells her that she is not trying hard enough.2- The front door opens and two teenagers enter the living room, all so we can see their once happy exuberant faces change into reaction shots of shock and amazement.3- We see what was meant to be Sylvia inserting the bottle into herself and the immediate melee that fallows. 4- Gertrude orders the bigger kids in the room to place Sylvia in the cellar, they drag her there resisting and struggling. 5- This shocking moment is capped off when two big kids shove Sylvia in the back, sending her flying down the cellar staircase. The crucifix masturbation scene in The Exorcist plays out in this order.1- Regan's mother hears the demon yelling at her daughter to "Do it" from the upstairs bedroom. You can also hear Regan trying to resist. Regan's mother runs upstairs.2- Regan's mother throws open the bedroom door, and before we get to see the horror that awaits inside that room, we first see her mothers reaction shots.3- We then see the crucifix masturbation scene in all its glory, and the very violent melee that fallows.4- Regan's mother sees her only chance of escaping the bedroom thwarted when the furniture begins to move by telekenitic power, which sends Regan's mother scurrying out of the way of an approaching dresser on all fours.5- This shocking moment is capped off when Regan spins her head around backwards.Thank you MR. Friedkin.Unfortunately for Tommy O'Haven, the similarities between these two scenes ends there, for unlike the amazingly crafted and perfected moment of ultimate shock in The Exorcist, the bottle rape scene in An American Crime plays as little more then a futile display of cinematic faux pas. Like every other threatening moment in An American Crime, once the situation starts to venture down the dark alleys of real subversive horror, a flash forward is immediatley inserted which takes the viewer right out of the path of any real danger, and into the sterile safty net of the court room. This happens immediately after we see the empty coke bottle. Faster then you can say "Cop Out", a flash forward is inserted, placing the viewer in the court proceedings where a little girl is being cross examined by the DA. As the little girl starts to tell the DA what Gertrude wanted Sylvia to do with the bottle, we are returned back to the bottle rape scene. Only now, the audio from the court proceedings plays over the top of the bottle rape scene as a kind of voice over explaining the action rather then just allowing us to see it for ourselves. The only time that we actually do hear the participants in the scene actually speak is when Sylvia says. "I can't." And Gertrude sternly replies. "I don't think you're trying hard enough". Now imagine if this silly ploy was used during the infamous crucifix masturbation scene in The Exorcist. I can picture it now, Regan's mother would be in a therapy session sometime in the future, she would be lying on her shrink's sofa as the shrink asks."Now Miss MacNeil, what did your daughter say next?"The camera would then pan down Regan's demonic face to her cruel twisted mouth, as we hear her mothers diembodied voice explaing over the image. "Well you see, she wouldn't stop attacking herself with that crucifix you know, and um, she kept saying over and over..."Then Regan's demon voice would yell out the infamous line."Let Jesus blank you, let Jesus blank you!!"I don't know about the rest of you, but I would like to take a moment to personally thank director William Friedkin for steering clear of such horrendous choices in cutting together that infamous scene."Thank you MR. Friedkin."So much for the laws of physics.When we actually do see the three images that constitute the bottle rape scene, they leave an awful lot to be desired. The first image is a very wide master shot that shows the entire living room. All the children are lined up with Gertrude to witness the forced debauchery take place. Ellen Page is seen from the back at such an angle, that we do not see her left arm at all, and we only see her right arm down to the elbow. Her hands, and the bottle are completely hidden from our view by her body. From that angle it is possible that all Ellen Page is really doing is letting out a groan while bending a bit at the waist. Since her hands are hidden from our view, one can even make the case that she isn't even holding the bottle at all during that shot. On top of this, her knee lenth skirt isn't even pulled up one iota, making the implied activity a virtual physical impossibility. Next shot, we see the bottle shatter on the hardwood floor. This too looks suspect because the glass is far too thin to be that of an old fashioned coke bottle. It looks far more like someone just dropped a juice glass between Ellen Page's feet. Now, not only would an old fashioned coke bottle not brake if dropped from a hight of less then three feet onto a hardwood floor, but the shattering of the glass is only a deceptive device used to take the viewers attention away from the fact that all the power has already been gutlessly siphoned right out of the scene. The final image is of Ellen Page landing on a sofa in sitting position with a grimace on her face. Talk about handling the difficulties of a tough scene with kids gloves on, these images look far more like something one would expect to find in an afterschool special rather then a powerful R rated drama about the horrors and trauma of gross physical abuse. No wonder Tommy O'Haven chose to have these depictions explained to us by some clumsy futuristic court proceeding insert rather then letting the images themselves provide the necessary information. Without a verbal description, there would be no way of actually knowing what had just taken place. Yet the real icing on this lilly livered cake is when Ellen Page is shoved down the staircase. We never get to see the stairs, or anyone tumbling down them. All we are shown is a computer generated black void taking up the empty doorway to the cellar, and Ellen Page diving into the pitch darkness going. "AAAAaaaaaaahhhhh!!"Outside of being flat out funny looking, the musical score that was meant to imply the dread, disgust, and shock that we were suppose to feel during this Earth shattering moment, sounds far more suited for the film Killer Clowns From Outerspace. Thanks to An American Crime, I now know what Guinness feels like coming out of my nose.I know that the one arguement that can be made about my critism of this film is that of social responsibility. Lovers of this film can always say that Tommy O'Haven chose to candy coat the atrocities because he is just showing sound social values with his tact and restraint. But in all honesty, when a scene calls for a 17 year old girl to slug a 16 year old girl so hard in the face that she fractures her fist in the process, I want it to look like something more then a hissy fit slap fight between two toddlers. The fact remains that the Sylvia Likens story pushes the very fabric of social decency anyway, so what it really needed was a gutsy director willing to take risks, not Tommy O'Haven whose approach was to pussyfoot.

RitchCS 2012-05-07 06:45:00

I couldn't move...

I collect movies...ALL kinds of movies and have several thousand in mycollection...which means I see thousands of movies every year. I'dnever heard of "An American Crime" until Netflix put it into my queueas a recommendation. I knew absolutely nothing about the film exceptfor the cast. I'd watch Catherine Keener do a Dairy Queen commercialand give her a standing ovation. Forty minutes into the film, I becameaware that I was clutching the arms on my chair. I was short-winded asI'd been holding my breath but didn't know it. I almost cheated and ranthe movie fast forward just to see how it would end as I was terrifiedby what I was viewing. This movie should have been hailed by criticsand had long lines outside the box office. Ellen Page and CatherineKeener were superb as was the entire cast...not even a 'walk-on' wasmiscast. James Franco, stepped out of the box to play an unlikeablecharacter as did Jeremy (Peter Pan) Sumpter. If you love good movies,heavy drama, and fantastic acting...this is one to put on your MUST SEElist. When the movie finally did end. I just cut off my TV set. Icouldn't watch anything of equal magnitude, no matter what was showingon any channel. One of the best films of all time...and the mosthorrifying in my entire collection...bar none!

Bearlytamed 2012-05-05 05:10:36

Bad portraying of truth.

This movie just made me very upset. It made it look like Paula andStephanie Baniszewski was innocent. Reading the true crime reports ofall taken place. Both them girls did horrible things to this poor girl.Why should they be portrayed as anything better then what horriblepeople they are. What this family and the neighborhood children did tothis poor child should be fully shown. They should , hold there headsin shame and be haunted by this the rest of their life's. I could notlive with myself if I was to have done anything like this .I only hopeand pry the children of this family and all the children involved arepunished by a higher means. And for Stephanie to clam she was Salviasfriend? What kind of friend would allow someone to be treated thisway..hogwash! All horrible people, horrible. They all should rot inhell!

Saad Khan 2012-05-04 19:15:22

You really need a Big Heart to watch An American Crime Based upon the horrific true story of Sylvia Likens.

AN American CRIME - CATCH IT ( B+ ) You really need a Big Heart towatch An American Crime Based upon the horrific true story of SylviaLikens. It is known as "the single worst crime perpetrated against anindividual in Indiana's history" and "the most terrible crime evercommitted in the state of Indiana." Long time back I saw "The Girl NextDoor" which was also based upon Sylvia Likens, where in that movie, thetorture and violence was shown to its extremist way and I was troubledafter watching that I returned the DVD right away, I just couldn't keptit in my Room on any chance. that much effective it was. Similar thinghappened this time too, I just wanted to get over with this, though ascompare to "The Girl Next Door" its less torturous but the facts andsituations shown in this one are 101% true. Ellen Page was simplyincredible, no wonder she is the finest young Actresses around. Hershining personality shines through it and the person heart sinkswatching her suffer like that! Catherine keener rightly bring out theEvil as the frustrated and Stoned Guardian. The movie is full oftalented stars like James Franco & Brian Geraghty and young stars likeScott Eastwood, Jake Daniels, Jeremy Sumpter, Michael Welch, AriGraynor, Scout Taylor-Compton and Haylay McFarland. Must watch itthough its not for the faint hearten because it a true story and itHurts BIG Time!

fwomp 2012-05-02 05:16:21

Not For The Squeamish, That's For Sure

This film is so disgusting, so horridly grotesque and inhumane, thatyou won't be able to pull yourself away; like rubbernecking at a reallybad car wreck.Based on the true story of Sylvia Likens (played here by Ellen Page,JUNO) and her terminal abuse at the hands of the mentally derangedGertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener, CAPOTE), the film pulls nopunches, giving us all the terrible sequences that led up to Sylvia'sdeath at the age of thirteen.More disturbing (to me, at least) was the fact that Sylvia's parentsdropped her (and her sister) off with a woman they knew very, verylittle about. But leaving Sylvia and her sister Jennifer (HayleyMcFarland, 24) with a mentally ill woman (that they didn't know wasmentally ill) probably isn't that much of a shock considering it was atime when America was still battling with its ideals (the 60s). Goingbeyond horrifying is the fact that neighbors heard the screams ofSylvia but did nothing about it. And young kids in the neighborhoodpartook in the abuse of Sylvia and no one, not one single person,thought to contact the authorities. The horrors of watching Sylvia'sphysical decline paled in comparison to the horrors of what didn't getdone.Catherine Keener was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for hercreepy performance, and well deserved are those accolades. Hertransference of all that was wrong in her life onto Sylvia iscompletely believable, making her role as Gertrude exceptionallyfrightening.A word of caution: this film is NOT for the light of heart. It isbrutal, unflinching storytelling about a time when America had toidentify problems it wanted to keep hidden, and this film shows that inall of its goose-bumping, gory, glory. If you can't handle seeing trulydisturbing images of child abuse and neglect, then stay away. But ifyou can handle that, and are a steward of gritty film-making, this onewon't disappoint.

2012-05-01 21:47:49

Shocking movie, will keep you on edge.

In an era of lousy movies, a lot of them, this delivers. This movie kept us on edge the whole time. True stories make the best. Sure bet here.

Nicole Loesch 2012-04-29 15:04:16

WOW!!!!

I just got done watching half of the movie cuz my boyfriend called me in and im still in tears.. This movie is soo sad but at the time this girl deserves an Oscar!! It was great, but to think its a true story saddens me deeply, thoso people even the children were horrible and may that poor lil girl who was tortured rest in peace. The movie is a keeper, im goin to buy it tomorrow, so watch it and you will love it but most likely cry, i did the whole time i watched it.. Ellen Page Rocks!!

Muntakim Haque 2012-04-29 12:04:39

Brilliant Performances

I should say this first that it was the incident itself that intriguedme into watching this movie, and so i was expecting a lot of cuttingand burning like in a cheap bondage video. And truth be told it shouldhave had more detail to portray the monstrosity of the crime, but thatswhere Catherine Keener comes into play. There wasn't a single aspect ofthe character that she couldn't portray, I don't know how the real Mrs.Baniszewski was but in my head it's whatever Keener played in themovie. Ellen Page was brilliant no doubt, the way she kept up with thechanges in Sylvia due to the abuse was brilliant and she was soconvincing in the torture scenes you wish you could reach out and helpher but i still feel the level of gore was less then what was needed todepict the full extent of the abuse. The pleasant surprise was all thesupporting actors, they were able to portray the damage done to them bySylvia's abuse very well.The movie doesn't show any real cutting but that doesn't mean thismovie won't scar you. The way the story was told was well thought out,it was a good way of getting the feel of what Sylvia went through anddespite lack of some details the actors really put up a show whichreally makes up for it. The movie gets to your head, and that's what'simportant. Be sure you will feel a bit damaged yourself after watchingthis movie.