"I Accuse" .
Tagline: You Can Alter The Evidence, But Not The Truth.
User review: 5.5
Movie Trivia Based on the real life Dr. John Schneeberger, a Canadian doctor convicted of using drugs to rape two patients.
Filming LocationsMoose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
Information
Directed by: John Ketcham Runtime: Canada:95 min (Ontario) | USA:86 min (DVD version) Released in: Canada Language(s): English Production company: Accusatory Productions Inc.
Official CertificationsUSA:R | Canada:14A (Ontario)
User CommentsA Woman of courage - leftyguns2 from Woodbridge Twp NJThis made for TV movie is perhaps one of the best factual accounts that
I have watched in a while.
The story of a single mother brilliantly played by the beautiful
Estella Warren is one of those film that won't let you look away for a
second. You cant keep you eyes off the screen. Yes I did find it that
good.
The plot consists of a single mother ( Warren) who after a quarrel that
turns physical with her boyfriend, goes to the local emergency room for
treatment. The doctor on duty.played quite well by John Hannah sedates
her (Warren) and rapes her. she goes to the police who initially doubt
her story . Doctor Darian (Hannah) is something of a local "darling"
and almost the entire town sides with him and against the victim.
(Warren). The Doctor uses his good relations with the local authorities
to defame his victim, and uses extreme measures to elude prosecution.
Forced to relocate she then embarks on a crusade to prove that she was
in fact raped by the Doctor. Needless to say the Doctor continues with
rather creative ways to pass DNA tests. Not getting justice from the
authorities she goes and hires a private investigator to get her due
justice.
I will not divulge further details since many readers have not seen
this film.
The courage and perseverance of this woman, in seeking justice is truly
inspirational.
This is a true story that to the dis-credit of many societies happens
quite often. Something we all need to fight for change. .
Good film about a really strange case - (pierotti@ku.edu) from OZTo deal with some of the comments made by others, this is a film made
for Canadian television. As such it is well made, but does not have the
fanciest production values. It does a good job of capturing the
attitudes and social mores of a small town on the Canadian prairie and
how the citizens would react when confronted with something they don't
want to believe.
This is the first film where the former Olympic athlete and model
Estella Warren is given the chance to carry a film by herself and she
does an excellent job, making me wish that she would spend more time
making films in Canada and less time in Hollywood. where I don't think
she is taken seriously enough as an actress.
Basically the film explores how society reacts when a woman from a blue
collar background (Warren) accuses a prominent small town doctor
(Hannah) of rape. On a larger scale it is also an exploration of
problems involved in many rape cases, where the accused is a prominent
individual, and the victim becomes not only a victim of her attacker,
but of society as a whole.
Warren makes the character believable. She actually underplays the
emotional aspects, which makes her more believable and anchors the film
in reality. As her accused attacker Hannah does a good job of playing
outraged and smarmy. His attitude, especially during some of the final
scenes in court are both hard to take and frightening in their
arrogance.
Overall this film does a good job of exploring issues which society
does not like to face and builds suspense and emotional power without
resorting to the overdone histrionics that might be expected from
American television or Hollywood's dealing with such an explosive
issue.
Strange but true story - morr_17-1 from United StatesThis unfortunately is a very true story about a woman in Canada and her
ordeal with a medical person. The movie might be a bit boring to some,
but it was interesting to find out how this ended. If anyone wants to
know the true story, you can find out about it on a show called
"Forensic Files". It is always absurd when a woman is seen as a tramp
or the town slut out to ruin a man's reputation or career. I am not
sure why men always try and discredit a woman as she says that
something has happened to her at the cause of a man. If you have a
mother, sister, niece, aunt, grandmother and they went through a
terrible ordeal, would you not believe them? To be violated in such a
brutal manner is painful just to hear about it, but women go through it
every day.
Well the Canadians seem to like it! - GerryK4 from United KingdomI like watching movies. I go to the local video shop and see titles
that might interest me. I come back home, before I rent, and come on to
IMDb and read reviews to, hopefully, get a true reflection of the
movie. If ever I have been given a bad reflection, it is with this
film. This is a low budget T.V. movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Not
a bad movie. But I could have waited until it was shown mainstream. I
hope it was very loosely based on a true story, because the credibility
was just not there. I would hasten to add that I hate reviews that go
on about the cinematography etc. etc. etc. All I want to know is "did
you enjoy the movie". My final comment is, watchable movie, not
completely a waste of time, but wait till it's on television, and catch
it, or don't. You won't miss too much.
Crummy Canadian made for TV movie - JimmieOlsen from CanadaDon't waste your time. It's loosely based on the true crime perpetrated
by a doctor on one of his patients. What is unfortunate about this film
is that the producers changed the facts probably just enough so they
would not have to pay the actual victim, Candice Foley, for the rights
to her story. This true story is accurately portrayed in the
documentary series "True Crime: The First 72 Hours" which airs on
National Graphic Channel. You get all the facts in riveting detail and
in less than half an hour. Also, Lona Manning penned a very good
article on this case, "Rapist, MD", which you can read at
crimemagazine.com, an excellent site with substantial information of
criminal, legal, and judicial content.
Small Town Floozie Fights Injustice. - Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
I hate to sound unappreciative of any artistic endeavor, or unreceptive
to stories of the weak being mistreated by the strong, but I can't help
wondering how much longer they'll be grinding out scenarios that fit
this template: Helpless young woman is raped (or otherwise abused) by a
man (or men) of greater social worth -- here a doctor, there a famous
high-school jock -- and she complains to the authorities. The
authorities try to shake her off, not take her seriously. Nobody
believes her. The community ostracizes her. She persists bravely and in
the end manages to bring her abuser down. You can get a variation of
the scenario by substituting some giant corporation for the rapist.
(Cf., "Erin Brokovitch".) I understand that this is "based on a true
story" and that poetic license must be granted -- but, wow. The
characters could have had numbers attached to them and the narrative
lifted, still throbbing, from some handbook for genre movies.
In this case, the victim is a single mother in a small Canadian town.
The abuser is the snooty doctor with the English accent who gives her a
general anesthetic to treat some minor injuries she received in a fight
with her boyfriend. While Estella Warren, as Kimberley, is all doped
up, the English doc takes advantage of her to rape her.
Kimberley brings a civil suit against the doctor (John Hannah), but
docs have a full hand of Aesculapian authority. (Not to mention lots of
money and charisma.) Who, other than a doctor, can tell the President
to go to bed for a day and drink plenty of fluids? Man, that's POWER.
The story then follows the usual trajectory, so ostracism is next. The
whole community seems to STARE sullenly at her, wherever she goes. The
close-ups we see are of faces that are old and wizened and, if they're
women, they wear harlequin glasses like unto a Roz Chast cartoon.
Kimberley must finally pack up and leave town, while the doctor
luxuriates in his own sham aura of victimhood. In the end, the Great
Physician seems to contract a case of terminal stupidity. At about the
time Kimberley is read to give up, he pulls the same stunt with another
young woman. The case now -- finally -- goes to court, and during his
testimony the doctor explains that he tampered with evidence,
obstructed justice, and committed perjury in SELF DEFENSE -- because he
couldn't allow his reputation to be ruined by a young slut. I needn't
reveal the verdict.
Estella Warren is pretty good as the victim. She's no tiny prey, but a
tall, full-bodied, and abrasive young lady. She doesn't know the
meaning of the word "simper." She turns into a positive pest, and
that's what the role calls for. John Hannah, as the doctor, comes
across as not much more than another seasoned actor. He's not bad, but
he doesn't bring anything extra to the role. The direction is competent
too. There's no confusion about where we are or who's doing what, and
no unnecessary displays of directorial razzle dazzle. The story is told
without unmerited garnish.
If I've been critical of the movie it's not because I think incidents
like this don't happen, because they certainly do. Some examples have
been caught on tape. It's just that we leap to the conviction that it
happens SO OFTEN. My guess is that it's a pretty rare event, given
everything that an established physician has to lose. So we can't claim
there are thousands of sneaky doctor/rapists out there. Maybe there
are, but we have no way of knowing. We need, I think, to also keep in
mind that accusations are easy to make, and that they're difficult to
refute because you can't prove a negative. (Prove to me that you did
NOT rape this girl is a little like saying prove to me that there is no
God or that there are no such things as UFOs. It can't be done.) And in
judging cases like these, we need to bear in mind that it's enjoyable
for some people to be a victim. (Not to be victimized, but to be
thought of by others as a victim.) A certain moral weight attaches to
the role. People sympathize with you and treat you with greater
kindness, as with mothers in Munchhausen-by-proxy syndrome. There are
two ways to get people to carry you around. One is to be powerful
enough to order them to do it, and the other is to collapse. The role
of victim involves a collapse in the face of irresistible social or
physical forces.
Given the weaknesses and the over-familiarity of the plot, though, this
is a reasonably well-done movie, with Estella Warren particularly good.
I don't see much point in recommending or not recommending it because,
if you're fond of these kinds of films, you've seen it already in one
form or another. They're kind of like the many action movies that star
Schwarzenegger, Willis, Van Damme, Stallone, and the rest. If you like
one, you're liable to like all.
Could have been better - Estella Warrenwannabe from CanadaI really like Estella Warren as an actress, but I felt that her lines
were awful. I mean, her character in the movie was so obnoxious that I
felt little sympathy for her and I definitely couldn't relate to her.
The movie was kind of neat because it was a true story. I am from
Saskatchewan and I remember hearing about the incident on the news. It
was good that they did a lot of filming in Saskatchewan and I even know
one of the guys that they had play a scientist, which is really neat.
The movie could have been good if they had made Estella Warren's
character more likable and more like a real person. The other
characters were quite good and I liked how they made the whole DNA part
look so scientific.
Held my attention. I am a sleeper watching movies. i stayed awake - nakina-1 from Ontario CanadaEnjoyed the movie on Movie network Sunday Nov 30/03. Felt that the
flashback
scenes to the rape was shown too many times. Once would have been enough.
the point was made. Estella Warren did a good job in her role. Reminded me
of an Erin Brockovich type character but of course in a different
vain.
A rivetting description of a true story - alfmer from Victoria, BC Canada*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
This movie is based on a real case that is again making headlines. (I
don't
want to write a spoiler, so it you are interested, do a Google about
Doctor
Schneeberger.) The story is quite accurate and held my attention
throughout.
Brilliant job in writing of a story that needed to be told. - Sheila Williamson from Brampton, OntarioThis story held riveting suspense. Hard to write a movie based on real
events. Brilliant job! This film kept me involved in the story through
to
the end and should be an inspiration to others who may find themselves in
similar situations to keep vigilant in their search for the
truth.
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