Marie: A True Story

A film about a corruption case in Tennessee. Marie is separated from her husband and raising three children. She takes a job in state government and in time comes to head the state parole board. There she sees a pattern: certain prisoners are released unusually fast, and there is money behind it. Marie starts collecting the files. What follows is a campaign of attrition. She is removed from her post, rumours are put about, her private life is leaked to the press and she is threatened. She sues. What the film is interested in is not heroism but how much one person can withstand against an institution. Marie has few supporters. The narrative rests on real events; at the end of the affair the state governor had to leave office and was investigated. Sissy Spacek plays Marie. One curious element: the man who was Marie's lawyer in the case plays himself in the film, and that became the start of his acting career. Roger Donaldson directed. A solid example for anyone who likes drama based on real events and legal stories. For a viewer expecting a brisk thriller, the film moves heavily and the process is told in detail.