Touches You

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's 1983. Police receives a complaint from Judy Johnson of her son's molestation at the McMartin family-run pre-school daycare center in Manhattan Beach, California. Eventually over 60 children make accusations of outrageous abuse at the school run by 76 year old Virginia McMartin (Sada Thompson) prodded by child-psychiatrist Kee McFarlane (Lolita Davidovich) and her questionable techniques. Virginia's grandson Ray Buckey (Henry Thomas) is at the center of the accusations. Callous defense lawyer Danny Davis (James Woods) is eager to take the case stoked into a media circus by Wayne Satz. Lael Rubin (Mercedes Ruehl) is self-righteous prosecutor. They arrest Ray, Virginia, his sister Peggy Ann (Alison Elliott), mother Peggy (Shirley Knight), and teachers Betty Raidor and Babette Spinler. Prosecutor Glenn Stevens pulls the case together discovering it to be built upon conflicting testimonies from the children.This is a compelling true story. It's told from the defense's side although I'm not sure what the prosecution's side would be. It's a harrowing case. James Woods brings his energetic persona to full force. The case is riveting and utterly memorable. It is a great award-winning TV movie from HBO.

Caught this on TV about 15 years ago and managed to watch it again recently and it still hits me as hard as it did the first time.The trials and tribulations we see the accused family go through are so painful and the stigma and paranoia surrounding them after the accusations arise.The movie itself did an incredible job piecing together a tragic story that somehow provided light at the end of the tunnel.James Woods is fantastic in his role as the defender for the accused. His character's initial motivation and the evolution it takes as the story progresses was very warm to see considering how the family seemed to only have each other in what was a witch hunt fed by paranoia.It's a film that is relevant today in an age where adults have to think twice before smiling at a child in public. This film does justice to depicting some deep issues rounded out by solid performances from Henry Thomas, Shirley Knight and Sada Thompson (and of course James Woods).

This is a monster film and a monster social document. James Woods shines as the fast talking, wise-cracking, cynical court appointed lawyer who is given the biggest case of his career, hoping to make his name, believing his clients are guilty. When however the nature of the so-called evidence is revealed he is transmogrified into the idealist most defense attorneys start out as.Also excellent is Joe Urla's portrayal of the prosecution lawyer Glenn Stevens who half way into the case realises just how ludicrous are the allegations and how tenuous is the evidence against the family who have had their lives torn apart. After leaving the DA's office he made an honest living in real estate.Incredible though it may seem, there are still people today who believe the McMartin preschool case was not a grotesque travesty of justice. The film also shows how easy it is to coach child witnesses, and that young children especially often have little understanding of what truth actually means, a characteristic that is shared by many police officers.Most scandalous was the treatment of Ray Buckey, who was kept in gaol for five years awaiting trial, and was retried on 13 charges on which the jury was deadlocked. It remains to be seen how any charges were filed against anyone in the first place, but at the time of writing we are witnessing yet another child abuse scare in the UK - plus ça change.

Since this movie was produced by Oliver Stone it is predictably well made and acted. My quarrel is not with the standards of the movie as a well made vehicle for the story but with the bias and one sidedness. The McMartin family comes off as beleaguered and wronged while the victims and their families were portrayed as stupid, illiterate and unstable. Abuse such as existed in the McMartin preschool does not only happen to the perfect children and parents but nonetheless it happens. I wonder at the slant of the movie. Why use it as a vehicle to defend the perpetrators, why not do an even handed story? Portraying a fair and accurate account would have served the truth instead of the accused. I always believed that the McMartins were caught being involved in a very lucrative business. I thought that it was all about the money, but the child abuse was such a focus that the lucrative business was not addressed. the movie was disturbing.