Cage Without a Key

"Cage without a Key" attempts to tell a rather worn-out,innocent-teenaged girl-behind bars story with a surprisingly effective disguise as a commentary on our nation's indifference towards it's troubled youth!Nonetheless "Cage without a key" reveals some heavy moments of genuine drama within it's shell of a story that we've all seen before!

The story concerns 17-year-old Valerie Smith.During her summer vacation she accepts a ride from a boy she barely knows and finds herself forced (at gunpoint) to participate in a botched robbery and charged as an accessory to a murder!Sent to the state reformatory for girls,young and naive Valerie is wrongly surrounded by the usual circle of tough lesbians,half-crazed druggies,warring gangs(called"families") and the panel of efficient and uncaring professionals who exclaim pride in their "school" and it's "rehabilitation" program!Of course young Valerie gradually becomes just like the others and even loses all hope of any eventual "release".But all in all,the movie is rather smoothly done!With some excellent and believable performances and scenery."Cage without a Key" does a good job of making us believe that we haven't seen it all before!