Guilt By Association Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Life is good for Susan, her two children and new boyfriend Russell. But life abruptly changes when she discovers her perfect boyfriend is a drug dealer. Realising the danger this could bring to her family she tells him to leave. Suddenly her house is raided and Susan is arrested as a co-conspirator in Russell's drug business. Her situation goes from bad to worse when she finds herself behind bars with violent criminals. How will she ever prove her innocence when the system seems against her? Guilty By Association is a disturbing story based on true events
| Mercedes Ruehl | Susan Walker |
| Alberta Watson | Angie |
| Alex Carter | Russell |
| Karen Glave | Roxanne |
| Elisa Moolecherry | Marguerite |
| Rachel McAdams | Danielle |
| Asia Vieira | Teenage Hannah |
| Trevor Blumas | Teenage Max |
| Mallory Margel | Young Hannah |
| Daniel Magder | Young Max |
| Karen LeBlanc | Ramona |
| Brandi Ward | June |
| Jocelyne Zucco | Shirley |
| Kathryn Haggis | Greta |
| Maria Vacratsis | Old Lucy |
| Graeme Campbell |
6.50 out of 10 (166 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A need to see movie
posted on 24 Jul 2007Court cases are always interesting when human stories are involved and this is a human story-not something to do with organised crime or fraud. It highlights an injustice for a start and its a reminder that the worse the crime is the less time you serve if the continuing release of rapists who go on to reoffend is anything to go by.Though this is not 100% about a real person its many who found themselves serving a sentence for what is actually NOTHING. At the beginning you see the woman Susan trying to find a solicitor who was supposed to be better than the ones the courts appoint but her fees were too high so she declined because she can't find the money without remortgaging her house she learns she can't as its been seized-supposedly paid for by her partner's drug business which she had nothing to do with. You see her pleading with him and finally ordering him out because of the drugs business.After which she is suddenly arrested and learns the partner has been as well but as he plea bargains for a lesser sentence she can't do that -she knows nothing. These mandatory sentences are unsafe convictions. The main of the film is to show how she coped inside-which is admirably. This conspiratory law is likely to be repealed but at the moment its as crazy as the Human Rights Act
Democratic Congress did this lady in!
posted on 15 Dec 2005OK, so you watch this movie which was made in 2002 and think the comments by some here are correct. Specifically I mean that this injustice is Bush's fault.Well sorry it shouldn't be a political issue, but in fact it is. These Drug War laws were initiated by a Democratic Congress, not actually Republican.Yes I'm a Democrat by need to set the record straight.OK so Susan Walker, who basically was tried, convicted and sentenced to 20 years just because her boyfriend was dealing drugs. This type of sentencing was very regular during the 1990s. Both Bush Sr. and Clinton didn't do to much about. Under Bush some 23 wives received the same sentence and under Clinton the # is over 120. Mr. Clinton also did nothing.In 2000, George W. Bush actually had all these cases reviewed and 95 of these cases were over turned.This story takes you through one of the cases, but is actually true events from 3 different women. Susan obviously is the focus of this film but the personality is from a GA women (Daniel in the film) who also was released. Her character is played by Rachel McAdams. The 3rd women, whose name was never released is still in jail.Its a wonderfully intense film to watch. For a TV production they did a great job with the time-line. Again understand the events are not all that of Susan Walker.For more information you can find the full Susan Walker story on-line.Enjoy this film.
Great movie
posted on 19 Aug 2005This was a good movie, I agree with the last poster. However, that last poster was making a lot of sense until their last sentence where they criticized the star of the movie in not being very pretty and being pushy. Huh? What has that to do with anything? It totally turned that intelligent review of the movie into a base adolescent review. In real life, we are not all pretty, handsome or meek and mild. Movies don't always feature beautiful people. I find it shallow of one to remark on the looks of the star in this movie. She gave a great performance. To top it off, do you know what the "real" person in this story looks like? She could be even uglier than your perception of the lead character in this movie. I fail to see the relevance in the actress's looks. Besides, she is not ugly. Ugly is more related to character than physical appearance. I believe "ugly" people are people who are evil. This actress is not ugly.
Stupid, Nonsense Laws Force a Mother To Serve a Lengthy Prison Sentence!
posted on 09 Aug 2005This movie was excellent. It's about a middle-aged, middle class single mother with two kids who unknowingly breaks the law. She is then arrested, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.She finds out about these stupid laws that can send you to prison even for just answering a phone call or driving someone somewhere. She appeals her case to courts for seven long years. She never gives up. She released from prison and has her sentence commuted.This law The War on Drugs, was made in the '80s. Although, it makes no sense it was passed. Currently they are trying to get these laws abolished.
Mandatory Minimum sentencing in America...
posted on 02 Feb 2005This is an issue that still gets little attention from the media. Kudos to the writer and director for addressing one of the several crises (including health care and prison reform) that are still in shambles today.Mercedes Ruehl is excellent as a woman who merely dated someone (who happened to be a drug dealer.) She was a nurse and had young children in the house, and once she realized what was going on she kicked the boyfriend (Russell) out.At any rate she was arrested for associating with a drug ring. She had answered the phone a few times and merely taken a message, like anyone would in a busy house with children, friends, etc. Apparently the burden of proof for the prosecution in this criminal case was accepted as hearsay. People are guilty until proved innocent once they are "in the system". And if you cannot afford an excellent criminal attorney to defend you, the system is unjust.We see many of the women in similar situations who were imprisoned with ridiculous sentences, some for 100 years. This is a disgrace that this can occur here in the U.S. If you like this film you may also enjoy "Against Their Will: Women in Prison", starring Judith Light as a woman who was unjustly imprisoned. 10/10 Very highly recommended.
Ruehl Rules
posted on 13 May 2008***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This Court TV original movie does a commendable job of pointing out the injustices often caused by mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Mercedes Ruehl is excellent as Susan Walker, a single mother who is sentenced to 20 years in federal prison simply because her live-in boyfriend and his cronies were peddling marijuana on a large scale.Walker refused to plea bargain since she considered herself to be innocent and devoid of inside information. Unfortunately, all of the other defendants in the case (they KNEW they were guilty) accepted a plea bargain, pointing their fingers at Walker as a co-conspirator to shorten their own sentences. As a result Walker, who was guilty of nothing but trusting the wrong guy, received the longest sentence of all.Overall, the film is quite compelling for a made-for-cable flick. Ruehl rules her character throughout.