''Too Young to Die?'' is a 1990

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

starring

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

and

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

. It touches on the debate concerning the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. It is based on a true story. Three years later, Pitt and Lewis would reunite, portraying somewhat similar characters, in ''

Kalifornia ''Kalifornia'' is a 1993 American road thriller film directed by Dominic Sena, in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film tells the story of a journalist (Duchovny) ...

''.

Plot

Juliette Lewis plays Amanda, age 15, a girl who has always been let down by all the adults around her. Her mother and stepfather abandon her after she tells her mother about the sexual abuse her stepfather has inflicted on her. After an unsuccessful marriage, she leaves town and falls prey to a hustler, Billy (Brad Pitt). He introduces Amanda to the world of drugs and strip clubs, abusing her and forcing her to give him part of her paychecks. After a chance encounter with a soldier, Mike (Michael O'Keefe), he offers Amanda a place to stay while she gets back on her feet. Even though she is still a child, Amanda and Mike begin a romantic relationship. After the relationship is revealed to his commanding officer, Mike breaks off the relationship, leaving Amanda back on the streets to fend for herself. It is not long before Billy finds her and forces her to stay with him again. After a night of multiple drugs, Billy convinces Amanda to take revenge on Mike by killing him. The two break into Mike's house, where they kidnap Mike and his girlfriend. After taking them into out-of-town oilfields, Amanda, wielding Billy's knife, stabs Mike. Amanda is eventually arrested and tried as an adult, despite her young age. The prosecuting lawyer is relentless and convinces the jury to see her as an emblem of the new breed of youth, the evil young people who need to be given a warning. Despite the best efforts of Amanda's lawyer (Michael Tucker), who points out that it is society that let Amanda down and not only her choice that led her to this moment, the jury is unsympathetic and convicts Amanda of murder. Amanda is, thus, sentenced to death in the gas chamber. The movie ends with her anguished face as she realizes she's going to die.

Basis

Although set in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, the film is loosely based on Attina Marie Cannaday, who along with David Gray killed Ronald Wojcik with a knife, in

Harrison County, Mississippi Harrison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,621, making it the second-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seats are Biloxi and Gulfport. The county is named af ...

, on June 3, 1982. Cannaday (born September 8, 1965) was charged with robbery, kidnapping, and homicide. At the time of her trial, she was a sixteen-year-old divorcee, who had married at thirteen and divorced at fourteen. She was convicted in Harrison County Circuit Court of the kidnapping and murder of U.S. Air Force Sergeant Ronald Wojcik and the jury sentenced her to death by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. The guilty verdict was upheld, but the sentence was reversed in 1984, ''Cannaday v. State'', 455 So.2d 713, 720 (Miss. 1984), and she was re-sentenced to one life sentence and two 25-year sentences at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (inmate number 42451). She was released on parole on March 9, 2008. Her co-defendant, David Randolph Gray (born May 29, 1954) was charged with

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...

, and homicide. He, too, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. His sentence was reversed in May 1987 by the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, in ''Gray v. Mississippi'', 481 U.S. 648, on the basis "a qualified juror was excluded from his trial". He is currently serving a life sentence in Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (inmate number 01440).Inmate 01440
- Mississippi Department of Corrections

Cast

as Amanda Sue Bradley *

as Billy Canton * Michael Tucker as Buddy Thornton *

Alan Fudge Alan Fudge (February 27, 1944 – October 10, 2011) was an American actor known for his roles in four television programs, ''Man from Atlantis'', ''Eischied'', ''Paper Dolls'' and ''Bodies of Evidence'', along with a recurring role on '' 7th Hea ...

as D.A. Mark Calhoun *Emily Longstreth as Jean Glessner *

Laurie O'Brien Laurie O'Brien (born February 16, 1951) is an American actress who started her career in Los Angeles in 1982 with her role in ''Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann''. She is best known for voicing Baby Piggy on the 1980s Saturday morning cart ...

as Wanda Bradley Sledge *Yvette Heyden as Annie Meacham *

Tom Everett Tom Everett (born October 21, 1948) is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as ''Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft c ...

as Judge Harper *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in ''Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in ''The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

as Mike Medwicki *Dean Abston as Harvey Sledge *J. Stephen Brady as Brian *Mark Davenport as Mickey *Lew Hopson as Star *Annabelle Weenick as Birdie Jewel *Charles C. Stevenson Jr. as Pastor

References

External links

Review
- RottenTomatoes * {{Robert Markowitz 1990 television films 1990 films American television films Films set in Oklahoma Films set in the 1980s American films based on actual events Films about capital punishment Films directed by Robert Markowitz

Plot

Basis

Cast

References

Further reading

External links