This independently produced, shoestring budget drama spins a taut but plausible tale of an Appalachian teenager imprisoned for his largely innocent role in an ill-fated robbery, and the young social worker who takes the law into her own hands by breaking him out of jail. The scenario may sound trite, but thanks in large part to a first-rate script and excellent acting there isn't a cliché in sight. The film places believable characters into an honest background of rural poverty, providing more dramatic intensity with a fraction of the resources than any megabuck Hollywood blockbuster. The only shortcoming (and this is strictly a subjective reaction, to be sure) is the redneck rock 'n' roll soundtrack; it may be appropriate, but the music is godawful.

I didn't enjoy this one much. Looks like they ran out of ideas for a story and towards the end, were just pulling at straws. If you read the synopsis on the box, it seems like a story where a social worker struggles with ethics in dealing with a young client that she starts to fall in love with.The way this movie starts out, with a young kid getting shuffled through adult prison after being an accessory to the shooting of a cop reminds me of the made-for-TV drama, In the Custody of Strangers (which is a similar story that criticizes the juvenile detention system). Enter the well-meaning social worker who tries to help him out, or at least make his stay comfortable (after a while, you'd forget this kid was in prison).Then, all of a sudden, this social worker turns sinister, and the story turns into a Bonnie and Clyde. She is such a bizarre character.Later, she attempts to break the kid out of jail after the judge decides that yes, the kid is going to get tried as an adult. Then, these two become fugitives working for the social worker's drug dealing friend. The whole movie is pretty ridiculous, and I suspect, is probably not enough to sustain too many people's attention since you're thrown one too many bizarre plot points.

I saw this when it opened in NYC by mistake. I thought I was going to see another movie in the same theater. I stayed and in fact came back to see it again. It had some very good scenes, especially the early prison scene, and you really hope they do get away. I even made contact with the producer and thought I could do something on his next movie, but it was called rollerboys and the script was terrible so I didn't even bother to see it. From what I hear it is one of the all time bombs. But see Hard Choices if you can.

HARD CHOICES begins with a young boy in a small town who dreams about flying planes. One day his brother and another guy take him on a joyride, which culminates in the murder of a store clerk in a botched robbery. That's the end of the kid. The kid is a victim of circumstance but not to the law who put him in a cell with the hard criminals.HARD CHOICES begins in almost documentary fashion. We observe the Tennessee backwoods where Bobby lives. Up until the crime the movie seems painfully routine - I guess that's the idea - and then the murder. The middle text of the movie is with Bobby in prison, and he's a hearbreaker. A female social worker(Margaret Klennck) comes to visit him. Bobby's attracted to her and she to him and then the unpredictable happens.HARD CHOICES, gritty and rough, contains moments of pure revelation. The sad course of Bobby's life and the shocking but touching affair with the woman whch is both senstive as it is hot and forbidden.. That's unpredictable enough but things escalate, the movie becomes a sombre thriller and anything's possible.I didn't recognize any of the actors in this movie, although John Sayles plays a kind hearted drug dealer with a crush on the woman. This movie come to think of it is full of hard choices and Rick King the director never makes the material predictable or soapy. In the end, all we can hope is for Bobby to have some kind of life., maybe flying a plane. This is a great film, the kind of film that cries out to be discovered on video and cable.DGSTAR STAR STAR STAR (out of four)