Because apparently I'm a deeply disturbed person, I watched both films based on the Likens case within the same week. I couldn't shake the feeling that The Girl Next Door had mishandled the true story, turning the perpetrators into over the top Hollywood monsters. By designe, An American Crime sticks much closer to the facts, which I fully appreciate. Catherine Keener humanizes Gertrude Baniszewski, portraying her as a poverty stricken mother pushed over the edge by sickness and a house full of kids. On one hand, this works as it feels realistic and you can imagine a human being driven to the unspeakable by a declining mental state. On the other hand, it actually softens Baniszewski, who's real life crimes were far worse than they were portrayed in the film. It also let's some of the other characters off easy as well, portraying convicted murderer Paula Baniszewski as sympathetic. While it's a fascinating story, it may never have a perfect film adaptation, and it may be for the best that nobody else tries to put a Hollywood spin on this horrible tragedy.
Review of An American Crime
