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Rating: Country: U.S.A. Release Date: April 24, 2007 Distributor: MPI Home Video Director: · Fred Gerber Cast: · Kellie Martin · JoBeth Williams · S. Epatha Merkerson · Alan Rosenberg Related Sites: · IMDb: After the Silence Grade: B-

Laura Keyes (Kellie Martin, Christy) tumbles off a fire escape after fleeing a physically abusive encounter with her father. The young woman wakes up in the hospital, and social worker Ned Burkett (Alan Rosenberg) quickly discovers that she's deaf and mute. He calls in fellow caseworker Pam Willis (JoBeth Williams, "In the Land of Women") who attempts to use sign language with her, but she doesn't seem to understand it. Her background reveals that she hadn't been allowed out of the house in all her 20 years, and that her parents haven't taught her any communication skills.

Laura is to be released from the hospital, but her unique needs threaten to have her fall through the cracks of the social service system. She's temporarily allowed to stay at a battered women's shelter, though she's in need of constant supervision. Rather than being tossed out in the street, Pam -- the requisite social worker with a heart of gold -- elects to bring her to her home against the explicit instructions of her boss Barbara (S. Epatha Merkerson). All the while, Laura's father Ray (Thomas Kopache) is making plenty of threatens when his daughter isn't immediately returned to him.

Pam home-schools Laura in basic literacy and signing, and although she's a quick learner the added responsibility begins to take its toll. Barbara eventually has to threaten to fire her unless Pam gets Laura placed permanently. A Catholic boarding school takes her in, and Laura begins to flourish under the tutelage of Sister Anne (Jennifer Delora) while still remaining naive about life in general. It turns out her ability to communicate will be crucial, since the district attorney’s office refuses to prosecute Laura’s father since they don't feel she will be effective on the witness stand. It seems to me that showing her scarred back would be ample evidence, but apparently there was already fear back then of runaway judges legislating from the bench.

Laura gets a rude lesson in reality when a hearing boy that hangs out at the boarding school takes her on a date, then attempts to force himself on her in his truck parked in a secluded park. She gets away, and is taken in by a group of bikers, proving that more than social workers have hearts of gold! Laura has come a long way since the film's start and the audience's affection for her grows along with her self-confidence.

Both Martin and Williams did an excellent and realistic job performing American Sign Language (minus a few errant signs) -- especially Williams, who was simultaneously speaking. As a hearing person with limited knowledge of ASL, it was nice that the signs were slow and rudimentary enough that I could follow along. The story and emotional impact hold together amid some plot aberrations. There's a whole subplot about another of Pam's clients (Donna Bullock) who is escaping a dysfunctional relationship. Even though her estranged husband (Mark Arnott) shot her outside the court house, she eventually returns to him and conceals this fact from Pam. You may think to yourself, "Yeah, right, like that would happen," but it does, and the film only deals with this important issue superficially.

A secondary storyline involves a fledgling romance between Ned and Pam, but it's a decidedly one-sided affair as Pam seems to be completely oblivious to Ned's subtle advances. A few plot points don't ring true, including Pam acknowledging she's a victim of abuse herself and couldn't hear for two years until they "fixed my ears with an operation" -- a rather fuzzy procedure that would seem to be only loosely based on reality. Finally, there some vague condescension toward deafness that I found unsettling, particularly at the beginning. However, respect for the Deaf seems to evolve as the movie progressed, and "After the Silence" is ultimately a triumph of will over circumstances.