Review of Locked Up: A Mother's Rage

The story concerns a mother of three sent to prison for 15 years for a crime she did not commit,on the testimony of the real drug dealer who got off on a 1 to 3 plea bargain as a reward for his perjury. Perhaps this isn't the greatest social drama ever made, but it points up the unreliability of our justice system, and the total inadequacy of any plan to care for children of convicted women, guilty or not. Also illustrated is the the fact that violent (20%) and non-violent (80%) inmates are all treated alike once in the clink. Our totally wrong-headed drug laws are responsible for most people in prison today, although the film doesn't emphasize this particularly. It's a film well-acted and produced and better edited than most TV movies. Jean Smart, an alumna of Ashland, Oregon's Shakespeare Festival, is a stand-out performer as the victim's sister. Her life is as much disrupted by the wrongful incarceration as that of the victim, played winningly by Cheryl Ladd. It's well worth a watch.