Marlene

Steven Truscott (Greg Bryk) was 14 when he gave classmate Lynne Harper a ride on his bike. It was 1959. He saw her go off into a car. She's later found brutally murdered and he's sentenced to be executed. It's decades later and he is free, but his wife Marlene (Kristin Booth) wants to prove his innocence after DNA exonerated other famous cases. As a teen, Marlene (Julia Sarah Stone) read about his case and worked to get his release. He does get paroled after some public pressure and ten years in prison.

This could be more compelling as a murder mystery, but the movie is trying to make a different point. I get it although it doesn't make it more compelling. It's an interesting idea nevertheless. I must admit that once the movie gives up a real suspect, my attention waned a bit.

It's a "based on a true story" biopic set in Canada from 1959 to 2007 following the efforts to seek the exoneration of Steven Truscott from his conviction as a 14-year-old for the murder of Lynne Harper. The film is from the perspective of Marlene Truscott, Steven's wife.

The film begins with a re-creation of 12-year-old Lynne Harper (Summer McBrien)'s murder. It shows her bicycle ride with 14-year-old Steven Truscott (Dempsey Bryk/Greg Bryk). Although he protests his innocence, he is convicted of murder as an adult and sentenced to death by hanging. However, his sentence is commuted, and questions begin to be raised about the evidence used at trial and the ignored evidence. Marlene (Julia Sarah Stone/Kristin Booth) lived in Southern Ontario and became obsessed with the case in 1967 after reading a book about the case by Isabel LeBourdais (Maxim Roy).

Steven and Marlene meet after he is released on parole in 1970. Steven is forced to move to Vancouver under a false name but maintains contact with Marlene, who also moved to Vancouver for other reasons. Their romantic relationship and subsequent marriage follow.

The film then follows Marlene's efforts to find new evidence and refute first-trial assumptions, especially in cooperation with journalists from the CBC's "Fifth Estate." Their lawyer, James Lochyer (Dave Trimble), plods along with pessimistic advice from time to time. It takes 48 years, but the case is finally resolved in 2007.

This is a "nice" film about a significant legal case that could have been much more dramatically portrayed. Kristin Booth's character dominates the film, but the potential of her performance is hampered by a cliché-ridden script. Greg Bryk portrays Steven Truscott as a passive and colorless victim. The use of flashbacks is sometimes creative, and interesting legal issues surfaced that begged for expansion. I think Anne-Marie MacDonald's 2003 novel, "The Way the Crow Flies," holds greater potential for a movie.