Trust (2010)

Trust is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Schwimmer, starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Jason Clarke, Viola Davis and Liana Liberato.
The film first premiered on September 10, 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was later given a limited theatrical release on April 1, 2011. 
==Plot==
Fourteen-year-old Annie Cameron (Liana Liberato) lives in suburban Chicago. On her birthday, her parents give her a laptop. When she meets Charlie in an online chat room, she establishes an instant connection with him. At first, Charlie states that he is 16 years old. Over time, as the two bond by sending phone text messages and through instant messaging, he bumps his age up to 18, 20, then 25. Annie is taken aback at first, but comes to believe that the two of them are in love.
After two months of communicating electronically, Charlie invites Annie to meet him at the mall. While her parents are dropping off Annie's brother, Peter (Spencer Curnutt) at college, Annie goes to the mall and awaits her first face-to-face meeting with Charlie. 
When Charlie (Chris Henry Coffey) appears, Annie discovers that he is a man in his 30s. Annie is upset at first, but he charms her into going with him to a motel. Charlie then has her try on some lingerie which he bought for her and begins to touch her inappropriately. When she tells him no, he pushes her down onto the bed & rapes her and even films the assault.
At school, Annie's best friend, Brittany (Zoe Levin) deduces Annie had sex, as she had seen her and Charlie that day at the mall. Brittany is concerned about this and notifies the school administration. 
The police arrive and depart with Annie, drawing unwanted attention from fellow students at her high school. These actions initiate an FBI investigation. The FBI have Annie contact Charlie, in an attempt to identify him, but he figures out the ruse and breaks off contact with her before the FBI can trace his location.
Annie's father, Will (Clive Owen) starts his own investigation, by taking up the services of a private investigation firm in New Jersey and even stealing a collection of his daughter's chat conversations with Charlie from the FBI. 
Will's relationship with his daughter and his wife, Lynn (Catherine Keener) starts to become alienating & he questions his work at an advertising firm which uses provocative advertisements involving teenagers. Meanwhile, Annie still believes Charlie loves her and is angry at Brittany and her parents. 
A few more days pass, and although Charlie has not been identified, DNA evidence proves he has sexually abused several other young girls. After seeing pictures of Charlie's other victims, Annie feels betrayed and finally admits to herself that she was raped.
The next day, Annie tries to move on with her life by participating in her school's volleyball game. There, Will sees a man in the crowd taking pictures, whom he recognizes as a registered sex offender. Will violently confronts him and it turns out to be the father of one of Annie's teammates. The assaulted man chooses not to press charges for fear that he will be outed as a sex offender to his family. 
Will apologizes to the man, but Annie feels humiliated. At home, Annie confronts her father and insists that she wants to move on with her life.
Annie hears from Brittany about a website in which people are belittling the fact that she was raped and posting photo manipulations of her in pornographic poses as well as revealing her phone number and address. 
Annie locks herself in the bathroom and attempts suicide by overdosing with pills, but Will saves her life. Brittany spends the night to keep her company, mending their broken friendship. 
Annie wakes up early the next day, and discovers her father sitting outside in the freezing cold weather. He pleads for her forgiveness, even though he believes he does not deserve it. Annie starts to cry and then embraces him.
As the credits roll, a home video reveals Charlie to be a high school physics teacher named Graham Weston, a married father with a young son.
==Cast==
*Clive Owen as Will Cameron
*Catherine Keener as Lynn Cameron
*Liana Liberato as Annie Cameron
*Viola Davis as Gail Friedman
*Jason Clarke as FBI Agent Doug Tate
*Chris Henry Coffey as Charlie (aka Graham Weston)
*Noah Emmerich as Al Hart
*Spencer Curnutt as Peter Cameron
*Aislinn Debutch as Katie Cameron
*Zoe Levin as Brittany
==Production==
The movie is based on a story David Schwimmer wrote after being inspired by his fourteen-year association with The Rape Foundation.
The filming locations for "Trust" took place in Chicago, Illinois, Wilmette, Illinois, Dexter, Michigan, Plymouth, Michigan and Los Angeles, California.
==Reception==
===Box Office===
"Trust" was a box office bomb, debuting at #43 at the box office, grossing only $58,214 during its opening weekend. 
Domestically, the film made only $120,016 out of the movie's $9.5 million budget. It closed in theaters on April 22, 2011 (three weeks after its theatrical release).
===Critical Reception===
The movie received positive reviews from critics. 
The film has a "certified Fresh" score of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 6.7 out of 10. 
The critical consensus states: "Director David Schwimmer gets some gut-wrenching performances out of his actors but he still lacks the chops to fully ratchet up story tension".
It also has a score of 60 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 18 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews.
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four and stated in his review: 
"The bravest thing about David Schwimmer’s "Trust" is that it doesn’t try to simplify. It tells its story of a 14-year-old girl and a predatory pedophile as a series of repercussions in which rape is only the first, and possibly not the worst, tragedy to strike its naive and vulnerable victim. It’s easy to imagine how this story could have been exploited and dumbed down. It works instead with intelligence and sympathy. "Trust" doesn’t offer soothing solutions. Annie will survive, but has been damaged perhaps more by the aftermath than by the rape itself. The movie is merciless in depicting the methods by which pedophile predators operate; Charlie is the embodiment of evil. But society is lacking in instinctive sympathy and tact for Annie, and society isn’t supposed to be evil. Catherine Keener does a warm, unobtrusive job of loving and comforting her daughter, but that’s not enough — not when her husband grows more concerned with vengeance than with healing. It is all too tortuous and complicated. Liana Liberato does such a poignant job of showing how, and why. She has three scenes in particular where her wounded feelings spill out in words of anguish, and they are so well-written and well-acted that they’re heartbreaking. David Schwimmer has made one of the year’s best films: Powerfully emotional, yes, but also very perceptive".
Shawn Levy from the Portland Oregonian called it "a diabolically well-made film about a 14-year-old girl who's raped by a pedophile who grooms her with online chats and sexts".
Pete Hammond from Boxoffice Magazine said, "With a sterling cast and an emotionally powerful performance from newcomer Liana Liberato, Trust packs a real dramatic punch".
Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" minus, saying, "David Schwimmer directs this smarmy Hot Topic drama with empathy for the craft of acting but less interest in the craft of making a movie move".
==Accolades==
2011 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
*Most Promising Performer: Liana Liberato (nominated)
2010 Chicago International Film Festival
*Silver Hugo for "Best Actress": Liana Liberato (won)
2011 Deauville Film Festival
*Grand Special Prize: David Schwimmer (nominated)
2011 Women Film Critics Circle Awards
*Best Young Actress: Liana Liberato (nominated)
==Theatrical Trailer==
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Category:2010s films
Category:2010 films
Category:2010s drama films
Category:American drama films
Category:American independent films
Category:Independent films