Crime da Inocência

TV-movie about a rule-abiding good girl from the suburbs who gets caught up in a bit of teenage excitement and goes joy-riding with a friend; unfortunately, the kids are arrested and the strict judge throws the book at them, culminating in a rape behind bars. Exceptionally well-acted teens-in-trouble film alternates between exploitation melodrama and cautionary fable (kids, this can happen to you!). Luckily, interest is held by a top cast including Andy Griffith (positively frothing at the mouth as the old judge), Ralph Waite (excellent as the young girl's dad, who bows to legal pressure and then fights his conscience over it), and Shawnee Smith in the lead. As a teenage actress, Smith was focused and very forthright, able to rise above the soapy dross of the script by never getting carried away with her character's anger, sadness, or feelings of betrayal. She gives just what is needed, and the movie is absorbing and interesting as a result.