recommended

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is a slightly spoiling comment, so be warned.People scoff at hypnosis because it is such an odd phenomenon, but it is real, and it is apparently true that memories can be erased and replaced, and it helps if you don't use the magic word (I'm about to hypnotize you) but just get the job done some other way.This movie would never had been made if it had not been a true story, because it seems too improbable. The expert witness who eventually vindicates the boy is a represenstation of a real character who has helped out in many crimes (not by hypnotizing people but sometimes by showing that they are faking). The wonder is that they found a lawyer good enough to track down the guy.Good performances all around by a little known cast. Odd side moments like the baseball game and the pre-sex in the back shack add to the atmosphere.

Very good film showing how the police can go overboard when things look bad for a suspect. A murder is committed during an overnight party at a home and a boy is the prime suspect after he becomes confused over his actions after the party was over. He couldn't remember whether or not he did the crime; leading to his arrest, the ostracization of the family, and a big court action. Do attorneys really go home with their clients and have dinner with them?