Marie: justice criminelle

Sissy Spacek plays Marie Ragghianti, a single mother of three who escapes her abusive husband in Georgia, moves back to Tennessee and her mother, and gets her degree. After getting her degree, she meets old college friend Eddie Sisk (Jeff Daniels), an appointee of the new Governor, and he gets her a job in the clemency and extradition bureau. She does her job well enough that Gov. Blanton (Don Hood) eventually appoints her to the parole board. On the parole board, however, she learns there may be high-level corruption going on, with paroles and pardons being sold, as well as delays in extraditions. At every turn she's stymied, until the governor fires her. She sues for wrongful dismissal, hiring former Senate Watergate counsel Fred Thompson (playing himself). Also in the cast are Keith Szarabajka as the civil servant trying to win Marie's heart; and Morgan Freeman as a fellow Parole Board officer who not only isn't impossibly virtuous, but is in fact a bit of a bad guy.

The performances are good, especially Spacek's, and the trial scenes are particularly good, as there's little of the histrionics that generally appear in Hollywood courtrooms. In fact, the courtroom itself is pretty cramped and much less majestic-looking than in most movies. The movie is generally based on a true story, although I do wonder how much liberty was taken with that story since Ragghianti has to go through so much that it gets ridiculous by the end. The other problem with the movie is the heavy-handed music score, which makes it very obvious when Something Dramatic Is About to Happen. It was to the point that I started laughing when I heard the change in music. Still, don't let that put you off the movie. It is a solid film.

This was a great thriller, and is especially timely today, with all the corruption and lawbreaking at the top of government,

But I disagree with Michael Morrison when he says that Ray Blanton ended his governorship the way President Clinton ended his presidency. I've seen the movie twice, and have researched Blanton. The truth is, Blanton was a very corrupt official who did very little for his constituents and did not care about upholding the law or about the people who elected him. Unless everything I've read about Blanton, and saw in the film, was incorrect, Mr. Morrison is wrong. The truth is, Blanton left office in disgrace, with a dismal record as governor. Among those who remember him, he holds very little respect. In fact, even though The Tennessee State Constitution was amended in 1978 to allow Blanton and future Tennessee governors to succeed themselves. he did not run for reelection. In fact, due to the controversy surrounding his administration and lack of respect the public felt about him, it was very unlikely he would have been renominated, let alone reelected, had he chosen to run.

So Mr. Morrison observations are 180 degrees wrong.

As far as the movie, itself, is concerned, the story is strong. I was actually getting hot under the collar watching the corruption going on, even though it was only a movie. Spissy Spacek's performance as Marie Ragghianti made me genuinely feel the frustration of being in a position where she has to choose between siding with the law and your citizens or siding with a corrupt government official (who will abuse his power and authority in order to put you down if you don't join his side). This is true testimony to her acting skills.

Fred Thompson plays himself in this film; a skillful performance which led to his eventual full-time career as an actor. As a real life politician, himself, he skillfully is able to draw on his personal experience to bring certain depth to both his role here and subsequent acting roles he carried.

Although the situation in Tennesee, back in the 1970s, doesn't come close to the level of corruption today, at the Federal level, it does serve as an excellent morality tale of what can and, indeed, has happened. It's a bite size version of the bigger story that is going on today.

Politics is a very dirty and corrupt business which is evident and clearly outlined in less than the two hours it took to watch this film. Sissy Spacek plays the real life victim and heroine Marie Fajardo Ragghianti, who after surviving and subsequently leaving an abusive husband with her three (3) young children in tow works hard, studies even harder to achieve a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) degree from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1992. Like most novice civil servants who look for leadership from their superiors it did not take Marie too long to rise in the public ranks from 1997 through 1999, she worked as the chief of staff for the United States Parole Commission. Once in this prestigious position Marie realized that she was being duped and placed in her role to serve at the favor of a corrupt Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton.

When Marie started asking questions when her boss (who hired her) Eddie Sisk and Governor Ray Blanton insisted that she blindly approve a number of very dubious and questionable paroles of known and convicted criminals she spoke to the FBI. Marie was abruptly terminated under false accusations that she herself was acting fraudulently with her office expense account and drinking to excess.

After surviving an abusive husband, raising three (3) children on her own, one son with some very serious medical issues, completing her Masters degree, she decided to fight her firing in a civil suit. After winning her case, the perpetrators namely Eddie Sisk (her former boss) and the Governor of Tennessee Ray Blanton were found guilty of extravagant spending, mail fraud, taking bribes for approving liquor licenses and questions were raised about their role(s) in approving wrongful paroles of convicted felons and served prison time.

The movie itself is a period piece reflective of the 1980's corrupt politicians and blatant disregard for the rule of law and serving as a civil servant, except that Sissy Spacek who plays the victim and heroine Marie Fajardo Ragghianti, is someone we can all look up to and express our gratitude for agreeing to make this movie and shed a bright light on a few corrupt government officials.

Uninteresting vehicle for Sissy Spacek, an adaptation of the book "Marie: A True Story" by Peter Maas (the biographer of Frank Serpico), concerns divorced single mother Marie Ragghianti, who was fired from her job as chairman of the Tennessee Board of Pardons and Paroles in 1977 after refusing to release certain convicts (all rotten and threatening for effect) whose pardons were the result of bribes going back to the governor (similarly rotten). Ragghianti sees the corruption, understands its origins, and is tempted to go along with it for the sake of her job, but eventually has to take a stand for justice. Sally Field's Oscar-winning performance in 1979's "Norma Rae" provided a much-needed boost for actresses looking for substantial roles in 1980s cinema; however, by 1985, audiences had cooled on female stars such as Spacek, Field, Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep all taking noble stances on-screen for the sake of audience empathy (and prestige). Nothing in "Marie" rings true, not Spacek's relationships with her co-workers, her troubles with doctors over her sick son, nor her humble beginnings as an undereducated and abused housewife (the actor playing Spacek's bad-tempered husband looks about 10 years younger than the actress). The writing is vapid, Francis Lai's music is 'heart tugging' in the worst sense, and Roger Donaldson's direction is scattershot, with artificial details dotting the scenario. Fred Thompson plays himself as Marie's attorney, and is the only cast member to successfully overcome the phony dramatics. ** from ****

Marie Ragghianti (Sissy Spacek) has enough of her abusive husband. She leaves him taking her three children back home to Tennessee. In 1973, she goes back to school. She gets a job from former classmate Eddie Sisk (Jeff Daniels). The head of the parole board, Charles Traughber (Morgan Freeman), is uncooperative. Bill Thompson is an unscrupulous operator behind the scenes. Sisk tells her to release a prisoner for the sake of a contributor to the Governor. He surprises her by making her the new chairman expecting more cooperation.

Sissy Spacek is great. I kinda remember this story from the news. Jeff Daniels is also great as something more than his normal nice guy. The ending is a little bland. The courtroom has some nice turns but the tension flattens out. More could have been done with Kevin's character. This is a compelling true story with some good acting.