Watch American Violet Videos

Release Date: 2009

Cast: Malcolm Barrett, Nicole Beharie, Scott A. Martin, Charles S. Dutton, Jackson Beals, Samantha Beaulieu, Michael O'Keefe, Will Patton, Alfre Woodard, Tim Blake Nelson, Xzibit

Categories: Movies, Courtroom Drama, Drama Film

American Violet is a 2009 drama directed by Tim Disney and starring Nicole Beharie. The story is based on Regina Kelly, a victim of Texas police drug enforcement tactics. Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four, living in a small Texas town (based after Hearne, Texas where the real incident took place). One day, while Dee is working a shift at the local diner, the powerful local district attorney (Michael O'Keefe) leads a drug bust, sweeping Dee’s housing... MORE

American Violet is a 2009 drama directed by Tim Disney and starring Nicole Beharie. The story is based on Regina Kelly, a victim of Texas police drug enforcement tactics. Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four, living in a small Texas town (based after Hearne, Texas where the real incident took place). One day, while Dee is working a shift at the local diner, the powerful local district attorney (Michael O'Keefe) leads a drug bust, sweeping Dee’s housing project. Police drag Dee from work in handcuffs, dumping her in the women’s county prison. Indicted based on the uncorroborated word of a single and dubious police informant facing his own drug charges, Dee soon discovers she has been charged as a drug dealer. Even though Dee has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her in the raid or any subsequent searches, she is offered a hellish choice: plead guilty and go home as a convicted felon or remain in prison and fight the charges thus, jeopardizing her custody and risking a long prison sentence. Despite the urgings of her mother (Alfre LESS