Primal Fear

Bomb Rating: 

First-time feature-film director Gary Hoblit turns the last half of his film into a mediocre episode of "L.A. Law."

Here's the problem with most "trial movies": Either the guy did it or he didn't do it. There's usually not much else to it unless the director decides to pull a rabbit out of his hat by having the real murderer inexplicably axe a bailiff to death just before the jury convicts an innocent man to fry like the dog they thought he was.

This movie makes a flailing stab at generating audience interest by hearkening back to the O.J. Simpson trial (hey, it worked wonders for "Jury Duty"). Richard Gere plays a defense attorney with a desire for headlines, so when an altar boy is caught running away from a murder scene with the archbishop's blood all over him, Gere jumps at the chance for publicity. The crime seems fairly straightforward, but as with all movies involving archbishops, there's something lewd and disgusting lurking just beneath the surface. In almost every instance where an archbishop is present in a movie he's either fondling innocent farm animals or eating his parishioners.

Instead of complexifying the situation by exploring the relationship between Gere's egoism, the media and the law, first-time feature-film director Gary Hoblit turns the last half of his film into a mediocre episode of "L.A. Law," which is not surprising considering his television background.

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Thousands beaten, raped in Irish reform schools

Dan_in_Cincinnati's picture
Submitted by Dan_in_Cincinnati on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 15:33.

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK,  Associated Press Writer 1 hr 27 mins ago

DUBLIN – A fiercely debated, nine-year investigation into Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions says priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades — and government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation.

High Court Justice Sean Ryan on Wednesday unveiled the 2,600-page final report of Ireland's Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse, which is based on testimony from thousands of former students and officials from more than 250 church-run institutions.

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families — a category that often included unmarried mothers — were sent to Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last church-run facilities shut in the 1990s.

The report found that molestation and rape were "endemic" in boys' facilities, chiefly run by the Christian Brothers order, and supervisors pursued policies that increased the danger. Girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the Sisters of Mercy, suffered much less sexual abuse but frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_catholic_abus...

{;-) Dan in Miami

PS:  Beware of organizations that insist on secrecy.

 

 

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See the movie THE MAGDALEN SISTERS

FearlessFreep's picture
Submitted by FearlessFreep on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 19:21.

NT

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