AN AMERICAN CRIME

so for a while now, i've been literally obsessed w/ this flick... (not to be confused w/ a horror movie of the same name from 2005)
AAC tells the true story of sylvia likens, a 16 year old girl who was tortured to death by gertrude, her children and the neighborhood kids...
the film was directed by elle enchanted's tommy o'haver and i have to say, he did an almost perfect job...
the film progresses beautifully, it's paced, it takes its time, builds to the horror that was sylvia's last few weeks...
the main focus, though, is on gertrude, the dichotomy b/w sadistic anger and a feral, lioness like devotion and protectiveness of her children.

most of the violence is left off screen, and to the audiences imaginations, but for those of us who've read the case files and searched the net for information, we know the unspeakable acts all too well...
catherine keener delivers one of her best, if not her best performance as gertrude, adding a level of complexity rarely seen in films these days...
ellen page as sylvia is heartbreaking...page actually starved herself for the role (sylvia was actually starved, among other things) and her pain runs deep... there's so much emotion in her voice, her face, her eyes... she's so remorseful, without knowing why.... she constantly apologizes to avoid punishment.
playing her sister, jenny, Hayley McFarland gives a great performance of a scared little girl who just wanted her sister to be ok. (in reality, jenny was threatened w/ a beating if she didn't partake in the torture of her sister). other cast includes ari graynor as paula the eldest of the Baniszewski kids, who, like her mother, sways between anger and violence and compassion and remorse.
the ending was a bit disappointing, o'haver seemed to gloss over the horrible truth that was the wasteful death of a teenager. but over all, this is one of the best films i've seen in a while... and though disturbing and hard to watch at some parts, it's well worth it... b/c at the heart of it, the film delivers truth and honesty about one of the most horrible crimes ever committed against a single victim....

relevat quote: I've been scared about a lot of things for a long time.