Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie) is a 24-year-old African American mother of four children under the age of eight, living the low income apartment complex Arlington Springs in Melody, Texas. Despite her apparent lot in life, she is portrayed as a church going, hard working diner waitress, who has made her mistakes but is still a good mother, person and citizen. But then that doesn’t make for a Hollywood movie...so the rest of the story.
Arlington Springs has been besieged by drug raids from the county police. The raid scene on screen looks like one staged for Tony Montana, complete with helicopter, and S.W.A.T. team with Kevlar vests; hardly worthy of a small town Texas housing project. These people must have done something pretty heinous! Dee Roberts is lucky enough not to be home during the raid, but the police find her waiting tables and drag her out in handcuffs in front of all her loyal customers (she must have done something REALLY bad!). During the booking process she is under the assumption she is arrested for hundreds of dollars in unpaid parking tickets. When she is shockingly charged with distributing narcotics in a school zone, she vehemently conveys her innocence. Unfortunately, her court appointed lawyer is in cahoots with the corrupt district attorney, Calvin Beckett (Michael O’Keefe) who is pressing charges. Her lawyer tries to persuade her to take a plea bargain and walk out of the filthy county jail and back home to her children that very day, OR rot in prison for the next four months awaiting trial since posting her $50, 000 bail bond is not an option. Dee is clever enough to realize that being a convicted felon means she would no longer be an upstanding citizen and waits it out in jail. Dee’s mother, Alma Roberts (Alfre Woodward) smothered with caring for her grandchildren during the ordeal encourages her seemingly innocent daughter to take the plea bargain. In the meantime, Alma has their congregation members sign a petition speaking to Dee’s positive character and the judge agrees to let her out on a reduced bail. Things are looking up! However, all the release means to Dee is that she unjustly spent 21 days in the abhorrent county jail while the abusive father of her children and his child molesting girlfriend tried to assume custody of her kids. Dee is out for vindication when along comes clever Yankee and ACLU lawyer, David Cohen (Tim Blake Nelson) and white Texas local attorney Sam Conroy (Will Patton), who attempt to persuade her in a direction that, for obvious reasons, never entered her mind: suing the D.A. for racial profiling.
Like many American stories, and while preserving some mystery of the storyline, as Dee’s Pastor Reverend Sanders (Charles S. Dutton) said, this story is about a woman who “struggled, suffered, and prevailed”. The plot has a bit of an “Erin Brokovichish” feel to it, watching Dee put herself on the line for the future greater good, but the dramatic scenes are extremely gripping and the acting is well above average. Beharie is convincing in her first starring role and the supporting cast no doubt made her job even easier.
“American Violet’, is based on the true 2000 story of Regina Kelly. The backdrop shows snapshots of the historic Bush vs. Gore election coverage and subsequent Supreme Court ruling. It magnifies (just as those events had) the implications and ramifications of the power of the American justice system. It forces the viewer to consider fundamental questions about the law, prejudices, family values, and the subjective definition of survival. When Alma is encouraging her innocent daughter to take the plea bargain and plead guilty as a drug dealer, it offers a perspective on the helplessness and desperation of her socioeconomic and ethnic population. Your heart wrenches for the children, who are obviously well cared for, but one can’t help wonder what their future holds. Will the perseverance of their feisty mother be enough? The oppression evident in “American Violet” has the onlooker gasping for air. The shortness of breath eventually subsides, but not without the care of family, friends, community and strangers willing to trust.
“American Violet” is rated PG-13
Reviewer Rating: 3 ½ boxes of popcorn
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Written by: Bill Hanley
Directed by: Tim Disney (Yes, as in Walt who was his great uncle)
Winner of the 2009 New Hampshire Film Festival for “Best Feature”
Available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Download.
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