REVIEW: 'An American Crime,' starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener

Based on the true story of a murdered teen, the Tommy O'Haver-directed film walks the line between truth and exploitation for entertainment's sake. > There is a lot of craft and some art in Showtime's "An American Crime," but I question whether the world needs even a well-made movie about the torture and murder of a 16-year-old girl. As a story of child abuse, it's too sensational and aberrational to shed much light on the more commonplace -- to use an unfortunately apt word -- instances of that problem. As a story based in fact -- the teenager is killed by an Indianapolis woman, her children and their friends -- it's too much imagined to illuminate the actual events. And as a meditation on human evil and frailty, it fails to go very deep, though it does provide the framework for a number of good performances, with Ellen Page as the victim and Catherine Keener as her tormentor. [link]