American Violet

2008
PG-13
1h 43m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

Michael O'Keefe, Will Patton, Alfre Woodard, and Nicole Beharie in American Violet (2008)

Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African American single mother of four, finds herself charged as a drug dealer and given an ultimatum: Remain in prison or plead guilty and return home as a convicted felon.

Play trailer2:24

9 Videos

29 Photos

Drama

A single mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished Texas town.A single mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished Texas town.A single mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished Texas town.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 wins & 11 nominations

Trivia
Although it says on screen that the film takes place in Melody, Texas beginning in November 2000, the events depicted actually took place in Hearne, Robertson County, Texas, which did begin in November 2000, and were based on the the case known as Regina Kelly v. John Paschall. Melody, Texas is a fictional town name, created for this film.

Goofs
When Dee is driving to work she honks her horn at a Pontiac G6 that pulls out in front of her. The G6 was not in production until 2005. The movie makes several references to the 2000 election that was upcoming.

Connections
Features Sesame Street (1969)

Soundtracks
Forgot it was Wrong
alternate name "Breakin' the Rules"
Written by Carolyn Richardson, German Pizano, Rene Izquierdo, Andrew Miller, Antoine Offett
Performed by Taniq
Produced by Adriohn Richardson, Carolyn Richardson, German Pizano, Rene Izquierdo, Andrew Miller,
Antoine Offett as TANIQ
Courtesy of Crazatic Entertainment Corporation

User reviews22

Review

Featured review

7/10

Worth Seeing

Somewhat preachy, but revealing story of how DAs in rural Texas in particular and maybe South in general have and use the power to make their statistics look good by picking on African Americans. The first half has the ambiance of a taut documentary. Less so after the civil lawsuit began. It should have been a civil rights suit in the federal court, but this wasn't made clear at first. The deposition scenes really detracted from the impact, but maybe that's the way depositions are conducted in Texas. Alfra Woodard as the Grandmother takes the top acting honors. However, the acting was first rate from top to bottom.

Jim Madison, Menlo Park, CA