She Says She's Innocent

A fairly decent script with a suspenseful, surprise ending is spoiled by weak acting from a cast pruned from TVLand, directed by a TV alumnus, Charles Correll, son of legendary Charles J. Correll, aka Andy Brown (of radio's "Amos and Andy"). The producer also had problems finding a suitable title. The one now used, "Violation of Trust," while still weak, is much better than the original moniker of "She Says She's Innocent." Talk about nondescript!

The plot centers on a divorced, pregnant mother, Susan Essex (Katey Sagal), who trusts her daughter, Justine (Charlotte Ross), explicitly when she swears she knows nothing about the murder of her new friend, Vicky Gilmore (Kimberly Hooper), amid accusations that Vicky and Justine had a violent confrontation at Justine's house the night of the homicide. Deeply involved also is one of Justine's old buds, Ashley (Amy Moore Davis), a straight-A student whom Justine's mom thinks is a positive influence on her daughter but who in reality hated Vicky and attempted to stir up trouble between Justine and Vicky over a common thread boyfriend, Ryan (David Lascher). To complicate the issue, Vicky was two-months pregnant when killed. Was it Ryan's baby?

To prove her daughter's innocence, Susan conducts her own investigation but muddies the waters when she begins dating the law officer in charge of the case. Slowly the evidence uncovered begins to make sense when suddenly Vicky finds herself in a deadly encounter with the killer.

If the viewer can ignore the amateurish acting, the pedestrian direction, and the intrusive subplot concerning Susan and her ex-husband, then he/she should enjoy the above-average script and story.

The main girl in this could not be more unlikable. She was written to be so awful! Sagal's character was also frustrating, making so many poor decisions, it was hard to watch.

I didn't pay complete attention to this movie, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it seeming to turn in another direction. However, the direction it leaned into quickly became very predictable.

Not worth watching.

Katy Sagal is watchable as mom who stands by her daughter accused of murder who seems to have done it. The explanation is quite good so stay tuned.

This film was watchable, but not memorable, except for the twist at the end. Mother Susan is pregnant, but getting a divorce from her cheating husband. Daughter Justine is having friend and boyfriend trouble. One night, after fighting with friend Vicky about her boyfriend Ryan, the fight spills out into the night, where Vicky is killed. Justine and her best friend Ashley apparently are the only ones who know what happened, and swear to each other never to tell.

There are some very unrealistic parts to the movie, such as the local newspaper prints stories that Justine is charged with the murder, yet there's only one unfriendly encounter with other students at her school, where she continues to go. (Yes, this was before the internet!) In addition, while one of the detectives on the case is a high school friend of Susan's and is seeing her, he is not taken off the case, even though he says he has to take himself off the case.

While this is a murder story, it's more like a mother story. It's a story about unconditional mother love. That began to really irritate me, too. Susan ignores proof Justine was involved in the crime. She seems to conveniently forget Justine came home the next morning after the murder with blood on her face, due to an earring being ripped out of her ear. In addition, she ponders what she should do with evidence that proved Vicky was at her house the night of the murder.

Is it right and moral for a mother to cover up for her daughter, even if it becomes apparent her daughter is involved in a murder? Does unconditional mother love ace everything else in the world, including justice for a murder victim? How would she feel if her daughter was killed and another mother was behaving as she was behaving? Should a mother keep telling her daughter she totally believes her even when she does not? This film does make the viewer think a little, but only a little.

P. S Note the twist at the end really has nothing to do with anything the movie is focusing on. It obviously only exists to make the crime hard for the viewer to solve.

It's been almost 9 years since this movie was on NBC, but it was a memorable one. Charlotte Ross (ex-Eve, Days of Our Lives), Katey Sagal (Peg, Married With Children), and David Lascher (Ted, Hey Dude) were a great combination of talent that really brought this movie together. I have requested that NBC re-release this movie and/or sell rights to Lifetime - I would love to see it again!