Silent Victim

Stars: Michele Greene (TV's "L.A. Law"), Kyle Secor (Heart of Dixie, Delusion), Ely Pouget (Curly Sue). Directed by Menahem Golan (who, along with his partner Globus, headed up Cannon Pictures, the company that lost its collective tail financing "art" films like Jean Luc-Godard's King Lear), this based-on-a-true-story courtroom drama would be a great camp film if the subject matter wasn't so sensitive. Michelle Greene stars as Bonnie Jackson, a Georgia florist who's unhappy in her marriage to husband Jed (Kyle Secor). In fact, she's so unhappy that she o.d.'s on prescription drugs and has a miscarriage. Jed sues his wife for the murder of their unborn child, and the second half of the film turns into a three ring circus as pro-life and pro-choice activists demonstrate on the court's front yard. Everybody in the film is a walking stereotype and the script has left no stone unturned when it comes to soap opera quality connections (the defense attorney lost her virginity with the D.A., a pregnant woman is kicked in the stomach by a horse while being barred from seeing her doctor by pro-lifers--who think she's seeking an abortion, an interracial love affair comes to light during the trial, etc.) There are some scenes that are truly precious: Jed, drunk in a motel room crying as he methodically sands a baby crib he's made earlier; Bonnie, sitting in a rocking chair, holding a rag doll, and looking like loony bin bait while she sings "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." We're talking some real Kodak moments here. Ultimately, though, this is a crass comic-book treatment of a very serious subject, with lame acting, lame dialogue, and not a single character able to boast an I.Q. of three digits. Audience: People who like "Disease of the Week" TV-movies; also "bad movie" aficionados.