I had no idea of that when I selected them.
Pictured are the three movies based on a true story.
NO SPOILERS
In Scenes of the Crime a young man who acts as a driver for members of organized crime finds himself in the middle of deadly mob negotiations. Not being a part of the crime world he is inexperienced in how to negotiate his freedom. He doesn't know which crime boss to trust. To buy time he continues to hold the chief crime boss hostage in the same van he was hired to drive.
The last few minutes of this movie offers a surprise. Also, don't turn it off until the credits begin to run.More surprises there.
The second movie was The Night Listener. Gabriel Noone is a well known writer and radio talk show host with a soft heart. He often reads passages from his writings and others on his show.
His publisher Ashe gives him a book submitted to him by Donna Logand, a social worker. Donna rescued 14 year old Pete from his abusive parents who would blindfold him, take him to the basement of the home and sexually abuse him and allow their friends to do the same. Donna rescues Pete from this living hell and adopts him as her own. Seized by the raw events he has read Gabriel wants to meet Pete and Donna. When Gabriel calls, Pete answers the phone and they have a conversation about the book and Pete's fondness of Gabriel's show. During their conversation Pete suddenly erupts into fits of harsh coughing. Donna takes the phone and tells Gabriel that Pete needs to rest. She later calls Gabriel and reveals to him that Pete contracted AIDS during his abuse and has only a short time to live. As a sort of psychological therapy she encouraged Pete to write about his experience. From those writings comes the manuscript Gabriel has. Donna tells Gabriel that if he feels the book will help others, to publish it. She further divulges that Pete's father is incarcerated but his mother is still at large.
Gabriel asks to meet Pete. Donna welcomes his request since Pete is such a fan of Gabriel's show.
That's when things get really eerie.
The last movie was American Violet. Dee Roberts is a 23 year old single mother of four girls. She lives in Arlington Park apartments. Her mother Alma Roberts lives just across the way in her own apartment in the same complex. Dee earns her living as a waitress and has aspirations of owning her own cosmetology school. Dee sends the children over to her mother's before she leaves for work.
What starts out as an ordinary day turns into anything but. While Dee is at work a drug task force rolls up to Arlington Park hidden inside moving vans. The task force descends onto the inhabitants with violence. Males and females are beaten, handcuffed and taken to jail.
Three officers go to Dee's place of employment and arrest her. She thinks it is for unpaid parking tickets. She is put into a cell with three of her neighbors. Dee finds out in court that she has been accused of drug sales of which she is innocent.
She is assigned a young, public defender who could care less about her innocence. He tells her to take a plea bargain but she refuses because she knows she is innocent. Those who take the plea bargain can expect about ten years in prison but will forever have a criminal record. Those who want to fight it and lose can get 25 to 30 years in prison.Time reveals that in Melody, Texas , the DA, Calvin Beckett order these raids from time to time to rid the area of the "bad element."
Hearing about Dee's refusal to plea bargain, a group of out-of-state attorneys who have heard of the plea bargain stings approach Dee to ask her if she will work with them as a witness to discontinue the racially motivated actions of the DA and his cronies.
These last two movies I enjoyed most. The Night Listener was the one I walked away from with my mouth agape.
THAT'S IT*** Ps. The other two movies were, "All Around the Town" and "Blindness."
That's IT***