I remembered this movie having watched it many years ago. My second viewing, some 18 years later, was almost as good. We have to bear in mind that the movie might look a little dated by today's standards. This is the story of small-town Emily Briggs and how she moves to California and gullibly exposes herself to danger from the smooth-talking, basketball-playing guy across the street (i.e. Jason Barnes played by Scott Valentine). He's not a very convincing rapist even though the scene was 'tastefully' done by today's standards. Most of the movie deals with how Briggs has to struggle to get others to believe her and even more so getting Barnes into court. At around 90 minutes, the movie is easy to watch and has some good lessons, especially for trusting young women.

I would have liked something more in-depth about the alleged rapist, so that we could see a little bit better how such a thing comes about. Does the "good guys" vs the "evil_doers" get a little old & shallow to you too? Although, guess I just like justice prevailing. A well done movie, if not predictable & obvious how it would turn out. After all, we do live in a (new?) politically correct era. Now that we "know" that things are suppose to be getting better, I guess we can rest assured & go asleep/get numb, & just have another beer. Why not a movie about the rapist background, history, abuse, & the society he came from? Too radical? Guess we have to expect corporate media to just be in the business to make money playing on our sympathies & our (unconscious) ego's identifications. It like a culture war & war against real people, & ultimately YOU are the target. At least somebody (something) is get enriched, but it isn't you/us.

Okay, now I'm not much for TV movie dramas, but this one was pretty good. The highlight of the film, without a doubt, is Melissa Gilbert. She is a truely great, underrated actress, and her performance in this film is (I think) one of her best. Never has any actor in a TV movie made me feel so much sympathy for their character. There's equally-good support from co-stars Crystal Bernard, Scott Valentine, and Barry Tubb, but Gilbert is the standout in this fact-based telefilm.