Guilty at 17

There's no mystery to unravel here - we know from the beginning that a spoiled brat concocts false sexual assault allegations against her science teacher, and she has her friend falsely act as a witness.

But whatever, we can't expect artistic conventions from a Lifetime movie. I liked seeing Erin Sanders, who played Quinn on Zoey 101. She's a natural actress here, but was wasted here with this dreadful script.

My gripe is that Traci has zero incentive to lie about the assault, plus she's not being blackmailed by Devon. If there were actual plot twists or an explanation to how Jay carried out his misdeeds, this may have kept my interest going. But it was a soap opera.

This was not too bad a movie, the story is good and I cared what would happen, Some good acting by most of the cast.

Seventeen-year-old Erin Sanders (as Traci Scott) corroborates a classmate's story about being sexually molested by an otherwise beloved science teacher. To upset students and entertain viewers, he is arrested at work. We quickly learn there's another side to the story. The presumed victim, pretty and popular blonde Chloe Rose (as Devon Cavanor), got a bad grade from Rob Stewart (as Gilbert "Gil" Adkins) and decided to get revenge. Heart-throbbing boyfriend Zack Peladeau (as Jay Allerson) helps Ms. Rose get even...

This "Lifetime" TV Movie is supposed to be based on a true story; that's somewhat believable, but this presentation struggles with credulity. The student liar suffers the most, as Ms. Sanders seems way too smart for her part. The writers' having an undercover teacher, red-haired Alex Paxton-Beesley (as June Gailey), enter the drama and attempt to uncover the truth helps keep the story interesting. Director Anthony Lefresne does good work with Ms. Paxton-Beesley in the classroom. She should have been the protagonist.

***** Guilty at 17 (7/20/14) Anthony Lefresne ~ Erin Sanders, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Chloe Rose, Zack Peladeau

This is typical movie about crime, drama, mystery and thriller. Not best acting, and lot details are missing, but it has more details that similar "at 17" movies. Actors are worse than in similar movies, but I can't say they are worst. There is so much details missing that we could not even understand whole story. There is no absolute truth in the end, as there is so much unproven stuff, which stayed unproven even at the end. Lesson is that we should never lie! Or at least to not lie about serious stuff that could affect other people so much. This is one bad story, although resolved, with not so bad ending.

This movie made me so emotional and I'm pretty sure it was because of the great acting from the lead young lady Traci as well as the teacher, Mr. Adkins. The teacher had such a gentle and kind demeanor and even though he was being accused of something that we know for a fact he did not do, he didn't overact or become livid or unlikeable. His character was very sweet and it was just so sad what happened to him. The guilt was eating at Traci so much and I think she did a great job as an actress at balancing out her emotions. The villain just set forth such a terrible chain of events that affected so many people. I wanted to see someone slap her right across the face.

Anyway, this movie was pretty well balanced and well acted all the way around. Sure the story has been done before but isn't every story told multiple ways? There's only so much to make a LT movie about so here's another perspective to watch. Very watchable.