
The lives of Escondido, California residents Cheryl and Stephen Crowe change one morning when they find their twelve year old daughter Stephanie Crowe stabbed to death in her bedroom. As procedure dictates, the police take each member of the household away individually to be questioned, and the remaining children - fourteen year old Michael Crowe and adolescent Shannon Crowe - are taken into protective custody until Cheryl and Stephen can be cleared. The police end up placing... (Full plot summary below)
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The lives of Escondido, California residents Cheryl and Stephen Crowe change one morning when they find their twelve year old daughter Stephanie Crowe stabbed to death in her bedroom. As procedure dictates, the police take each member of the household away individually to be questioned, and the remaining children - fourteen year old Michael Crowe and adolescent Shannon Crowe - are taken into protective custody until Cheryl and Stephen can be cleared. The police end up placing much of their focus on the sullen Michael, who they question without counsel and without discussion with his parents. The tone of the police questioning is that they believe Michael did kill his sister, the police lying, harassing and coercing in the process. Under the barrage of questioning, Michael eventually confesses, as do two of his friends, both questioned under the same threatening tone. Cheryl and Stephen, who are finally made aware of the questioning and the confessions, enlist the help of sympathetic attorney, Dorothy Sorenson, to clear Michael and his friends while trying to find the real killer, who they believe is a transient named Richard Tuite.
Leave your thoughts about The Interrogation of Michael Crowe.
| User ReviewKristen WThis movie is supposed to be both dramatic and educational and I believe it accomplished both. The gravity and serious of the situation coupled with the fact that this is the retelling of a true story allows the viewer to overlook the majority of bad acting and bad character fashion design. it sorts of makes the movie retelling "more realistically". This movie exposes weaknesses and dangers in our criminal prosecution system and therefore is a much watch for anyone going out into this world. |
| User ReviewAngad WSaw it today. What a great movie.. really makes me want to think twice in trusting the police. |
| User ReviewAngad BSaw it today. What a great movie.. really makes me want to think twice in trusting the police. |
| User Review:) Meg (OMG!! This is a really good movie!!! It is soooooooooooooo sad what happened to this girl! |
| User ReviewBrandan Wit is a truly frightening true story about the abuse of police power.Basically, the story is quite simple. 12 year old Stephanie Crowe is brutally murdered in her own home in Escondido, California while her family sleeps. Without any real evidence, the police decide that her 14 year old brother Michael must be guilty, they ignore evidence pointing to another suspect and they coerce a confession from him after two days of non-stop questioning, filled with lies about what they supposedly "know," threats if he won't confess and promises of help if he will. Young Michael then becomes the object of a relentless prosecution by the District Attorney, who finally admits that there is no direct evidence but won't give up the case, instead dismissing it "without prejudice," thus leaving possible future prosecution hanging over Michael's head, and leaving the viewer wondering what's going to happen to this boy, until the final decision is revealed at the end.This is truly an excellent, gripping movie. It takes a bit of getting into in the first few minutes, but once you're into it you're definitely hooked. Superb performances come from Ally Sheedy and Michael Riley as Michael's parents and - I'll use the phrase again - there's a positively frightening performance from John Bourgeois as Detective Claytor. Not to be overlooked is young Mark Rendall's performance as Michael. He brilliantly portrayed the fear and hopelessness this young boy must have felt. At times I thought he came across as a bit too mature in his portrayal, but, then again, maybe that was Michael.This isn't a particularly well known movie, but everyone should see it. |
| User ReviewSamaa MAgain, life is often far better than fiction. This true story of police abuse of a 14 year old strikes the heart and will make you question how much you should trust the police. |
| User ReviewLarry YWithout Mark Rendall's stellar performance, this probably wouldn't have been nearly as good a film. But for a kid, and one I've never seen in anything else, he was absolutely amazing. I don't know much of anything about the actual case so I'm not sure about sticking to facts, but this is definitely an engaging film with some great performances. |
| User ReviewDanielle SWhen 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe is brutally murdered at her home in her small home town, the authorities foolishly jump to conclusions that her 14-year-old brother Michael must be responsible. They completely ignore strong evidence that suggests another suspect is the one. They work hard to force Michael to falsely confess to what he did not do, in order to avoid tougher investigation. The police used psychological brutality in many forms and finally broke Michael down, convincing him to confess. Two of his friends were eventually implicated as conspirators. Michael had to spend many stressful months in prison but was eventually exonerated. |
| User ReviewJennifer KSo sad. Powerful reminder for us all to know our rights...or at least have a lawyer we can call. |
| User Reviewfamiliar sFares reasonably well as a made-for-TV movie displaying an adverse police procedural & exploring its negative effects. |