This message flick is a harrowing drama, which chronicles the ordeals of young gang rape victim, Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS). Foster deserved the Oscar for a perfect performance. She is one of the main reasons the film works so well.
Based on a true story, the film depicts the case, which was brought against three men who cheered on the assault. Kelly McGillis (TOP GUN, WITNESS) plays the reserved DA Kathryn Murphy, who puts her career on the line by prosecuting the cheerers. After making a deal with rapists, Murphy feels guilt for not letting Tobias tell her story.
I applaud the film's writer Tom Topor (NUTS) for the perfect construction of the story. Leaving the actual detailed re-enactment of the rape until the end really solidified an often-typical courtroom ending. It also doesn't make the case easy. When Sarah was raped she was in a dive bar, drunk, dancing provocatively in skimpy clothes. It allows for the male ruled judicial system to believe that she asked for it. But for the viewer the brutality of the case just underlines how that mindset it so grossly wrong.
The film pits the worlds of the uneducated Tobias against the privileged world of Murphy. They couldn't come from more different worlds and that plays into the reasons why Murphy is driven to take on the risky case against the witnesses. At first Murphy deals with the case cool and strategically. She works with the defendant's highly paid lawyers to cut a deal that she's probably cut dozens of times before. But when Tobias hears about the plea, she is devastated, but not because of the time in jail the men will serve, but because they were charged with aggregated assault. The court won't even acknowledge that she was raped. It's the final denigration from a society that has always said she was trash.
As I said earlier, Foster certainly deserved her Oscar for this performance. The bravery and sheer dedication it took is remarkable. There is a moment when she runs screaming from the bar after the rape that is filled with heart crushing anguish that is rarely captured on screen. But also watch her in the quieter moments. She becomes the character for all the good and bad. Foster never shies away from the unsophisticated elements of the role. She finds the humanity in Sarah's quirks.
I do foreworn all viewers that the rape scene is extremely harrowing and difficult to watch, but that's what makes it so amazingly powerful and completely unforgettable. But what often cuts harder than the actual rape scene are the scenes where the men tease Sarah after the incident. For them it was just a good time. For her it robs her of her humanity time and time again.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
