Les soupçons de Mary

In my work with the only nationwide non-profit organization, Security On Campus, Inc. dedicated exclusively to the issue of college campus crime prevention and student awareness I see all too often the type of campus violence and `cover-up' through secret campus courts portrayed in the movie `Silencing Mary.' In fact we receive numerous calls and requests for information every month from campus reporters such as `Mary' who are facing similar situations.

Its depiction of a campus rape and the subsequent crusade by `Mary,' the victim's roommate and a student journalist played exceedingly well by Melissa Joan Hart, for justice was very well done and accurately researched.

This was the first television movie that I have ever seen that I felt truly reflected and encompassed all of the various complex issues associated with how rape and other violent crimes are dealt with on our nation's college and university campuses. Although it would not be possible to address all of these issues in depth in 2 hours, this movie comes closer than any others I've seen.

This movie definitely shows something and sheds light on what happens in most institutions today, and shows how one gurl just with the help of her newspaper manages to get things done, her editor has complete faith in her and doesn't publish something important, because it would harm her friend... and when it was the right time she took the necessary action.

The movie overall got a rating of 9 from me , because its got everything, i mean it keeps you entertained, and moreover, they have acted really well, for a TV movie, its really high quality acting that deserves alot of credit.

While the movie itself wasn't bad to watch since considering that rape is no laughing matter, what disappointed me was Melissa Joan Hart and her little sister Emily were in it since I really don't like them as actresses. And another point that disappointed me was that Teryl Rothery's character, Detective Brubaker, didn't get a lot of air time. She is such a great actress!

I liked this movie. Many people refer to it as "Sabrina the Teenage Feminist". They do that with a lot of movies that Melissa Joan Hart is in. Still, she really surprised me in this movie because she was great in the part of Mary, who fights for justice when her roommate is raped. You could tell that Hart was extremely determined in this movie and it showed. I also liked Lisa Dean Ryan as Mary's roommate. She was very effective in making me feel sorry for her character after she was raped. Josh Hopkins was good as the cocky and egotistical rapist. Lochlyn Munro convincingly played his character. The acting in this movie is better than in most TV movies, in my opinion.

The movie was pretty predictable though. Also, I expected more from the ending, it was too abrupt. The delivery could have been better. But the performances and overall plot make up for these problems.

I viewed this film because I admire Melissa Joan Hart as an actress, and she's certainly good in this one. The problem is not her, but the film itself. It plods its way through unimaginative storyline to a predictable conclusion. Just when you think the movie is going to have an interesting twist, it doesn't. It never shifts out of its "nail the bad guy" rut.

Melissa, who is great in the TV series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" plays a student named Mary who is a reporter for the college newspaper. Her room-mate Holly gets thoroughly drunk at a party, and the college football hero takes advantage of her.

Holly cries rape, but no-one takes it too seriously. The college tries to sweep it under the carpet because they don't want to look as if they have an unsafe campus, and because the football hero is the key player in the team who will win them the premiership and get the college an extra million dollars of funding.

Even Holly doesn't want to go to the police because she is too upset, and she is just trying to cope, trying to hang on, trying to forget it ever happened, and besides, she feels it was probably her own fault for getting drunk, and for acting sexy and leading him on.

Three other actors give the film a lift whenever they're on-screen. Teryl Rothery, as Detective Brubaker, has a small part. Rothery is very famous for her voice work in Japanese anime, as well as being famous for her brilliant acting in just about every second or third TV series you could name. So why was she given such a small role in this one?

The second is Melissa's brilliant little sister Emily, who played in several episodes of "Sabrina", as the spoilt brat whom Sabrina had to babysit. She's only on for a few lines, so it's another case of wasting a great actress. I predict she'll be an even bigger star than Melissa, so keep an eye on her.

There's also Peter MacNicol, famous for his role as "The Biscuit" (John Cage) in the Ally McBeal TV series. His role is no bigger than Rothery's.

I'm not saying you shouldn't see the film. It's not a total loss. Any film with the Hart sisters in it is worth seeing, just for them. And Rothery makes it essential viewing too. I'm just saying that they could have made a much, much better film if they had used more of the great acting talent they had available, and had re-written the script with entertainment in mind, rather than aiming at heavily labouring the point that there's no excuse for rape, and that it must be fought against, not swept under the carpet.