Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
When he ignores her letters and rejects her advances at training camp, Marianne accuses Tony of assault and rape. The media assumes the worse of him stereotyping him as a black athlete on the prowl. Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Joey Kearns prosecutes the case that he sees as a career maker; so does Judge Gerald O’Connor. Tony turns to his friends from high school for support and hires a top rate lawyer. While her dad wants the truth to prevail, as insurance Marianne’s mom brings north her Mississippi Klan relatives, but the intelligent eloquent Tony refuses to allow his family and his life to be sacked by a vengeful SOB.
RAILROADED is a terrific legal thriller that grips the audience the moment that Tony recognizes Marianne as the woman he shared consensual sex with and never slows down until the final clean up in Ohio. The characters are purposely turned into extremes to accentuate the theme that justice conveniently blinks as even a popular good family person can be RAILROADED for a crime that he or she never committed. Whitfield Grant will leave his audience entertained but pondering a jurisprudence system that can be manipulated and defining justice as personal.