A Matter of Justice (1993 TV Movie) User Reviews

Patty Duke and Martin Sheen...

[MarieGabrielle · 8/10 · 4 September 2006]

shine in this film, which is a disturbing account of a young serviceman, murdered for profit. His young wife ("Dusty"), well-portrayed by Alexandra Powers, may have been the culprit. She has a baby too young (Duke's grandchild) and decides that she is tired of being an army wife, and becomes a prostitute in Honolulu.

When Duke's son is murdered, she suspects the worst. After protracted legal problems, Duke eventually wins a minor victory, seeking justice for her son's murder. Apparently as a resident of Alabama, she only has influence due to the fact that she is in a small town, and must hound and harass the district attorney. Charles Dutton, Jr. is also very good as the detective who tracks Dusty and the grandchild, discovering they are living in squalor in Oklahoma, collecting money from the murdered husband's army pension.

Patty Duke is amazing, because she always transcends material, engaging the audience. While this film was based on a true story, a few liberties were taken, but you will still be interested in the outcome. 8/10.

fantastic performance by Patty Duke

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 6 September 2004]

Patty Duke plays an amazing character who will stop at nothing to see her son's murderer brought to justice and to gain custody of her grandchild.

Duke does the role complete justice. No matter what gets in the mother's way, she is not stymied. Her eye never veers from the ultimate goal, and she keeps at it until she wins, channeling the anger over her son's death into positive action. You truly root for her all the way.

Patty Duke has made so many TV movies that it's sometimes difficult to sort them out. But her work is always outstanding and usually, so are the films. I sometimes wonder if that's because of her or if the stories are really that good - I think it's a combination. She has excellent taste in roles. One of the reviews mentioned that she was robbed of another Emmy. In my opinion, she has been robbed of many. She is always worth watching.

Excellent movie, limited factual errors

[petis76 · 6/10 · 17 October 2010]

A matter of Justice is an excellent movie featuring outstanding performances by Patty Duke, Martin Sheen, and Charles S Dutton. The true tragic events the story centers around were dramatized to make the movie a little more interesting, instead of making up scenes the director should have spent time on facts. The glaring mistakes to me are the military prison which could have been better represented, and the NIS scene. She calls it Naval Intelligence Service, actually it was called Naval Investigative Service, until 1996 when it became NCIS. Overall the movie contains excellent performances by the leading and supporting actors, Hollywood could spend a little time working on a remake to fix small mistakes.

Growing Problem In The Military

[alphalima23 · 5 May 2008]

Self defense my foot. There is no way you can call it self defense when someone is stabbed 26 times. This is a sad, yet increasingly typical situation in the military. Chris Brown is not the only troop to be murdered by his spouse, who married him because she was looking for a meal ticket. Great acting, suspense filled story. However, I wish this was a story that never had to be told, but unfortunately, it happens again and again and again. There are countless stories like this out there. Not all of them have ended in murder, but many of them have ended in bitter child custody battles, and some of them have ended in murder. The military life is hard enough as it is without all these women out there looking for meal tickets.

Mother Knows Best

[lavatch · 6/10 · 7 June 2021]

In the opening scene of "A Matter of Justice," young Chris Brown is seen getting a thrashing from some of the town bullies in his backwater town in the Deep South. What follows is the decision of the 17-year-old Christ to join the Marines. His father believes the experience will give Chris some much-needed discipline. But his mother has grave reservations. Arguably, the theme of the film is: Mother knows best!

As portrayed in the film, the young Marine Chris is the victim of a 24-year-old predator named Dusty. After her first marriage ended, Dusty had to forfeit custody of a child to her husband. With Chris, Dusty delivers a beautiful baby girl named Christine. The scheming Dusty plans the death of Chris and seems determined to retain custody of little Christine. But a powerful force is standing in her way: Mary Brown.

This two-part, made-for-television movie was an earnest drama based on a true story. The pacing was sluggish and the film was padded with many extraneous scenes. The characters were not multi-dimensional, especially the evil Dusty. Patty Duke gives a credible performance as the devoted, heartbroken mom. By the end, justice is served. May the hapless Chris, who never developed much backbone despite his stint in the Marines, rest in peace.

setting the record straight

[toots41 · 9/10 · 13 February 2009]

... I just perused these comments for the first time ... to ALL of you who doubted the validity of these characters and events-portrayed ; you could NOT be more wrong ... this movie is dead-nuts ACCURATE ... one possible stray-from-truth : a slight negative pallor was assigned upon Ada,OK ... the town itself was neither mean-hearted nor an obstacle to justice ... just a small group of residents (mostly her family and misguided friends) ... other than that, this movie is ALL TRUTH and ACCURACY throughout ... right down to that dishwater-haired older sister of hers ... the actress looked exactly like that sister ... you only got a "glimpse" of her mean-spirited angst ... but , trust me ... every fact in this movie is just that: FACT ... how do I know ? ... my name was mentioned in a courtroom scene mid-movie ... they had caught her in lies about her past ... an attorney questioned her about "forest" ... "dusty" was my ex-wife ... I was fortunate enough to win custody of our daughter when she was six-months old ... "dusty" then decided to join the Marines and move to Carolina ... the rest is history ... 'nuff said ,,, "forest"

PATTY DUKE: ROBBED OF ANOTHER EMMY!

[Karadago · 10/10 · 27 January 2002]

I just finished watching this movie on Lifetime. I must have seen it 15 or 20 times, but it is truly one of those movies that seems to get better each time. Patty Duke, and the program itself, were not only robbed of Emmys, but also of nominations. It is an ongoing injustice with the TV Academy. A miracle of some sorts was made with this movie. It was produced in the middle of the true crime tv-movie phase, where one movie looked like another, but this one stands apart on its own.

If you are a fan of Ms. Duke's or of real gutsy characters, check this one out!

A matter of INjustice

[mortenwebstar2 · 1/10 · 26 June 2005]

This short series depict what is a struggle for two parents who lost their son. An the makers of this series, tries all they can, to emphasise big sympathy for the parents, and particularly the mother, Mary Brown, played by Patty Duke. But that simply didn't work for me.

I found Patty Duke's to be so mean, that even super villains would have a hard time to reach her level. In that respect, it is impossible, to be anything but horrible. The problem with these movies, are that they only work, as long as the viewer is exactly in view with the opinion of the writer and/or director, as soon as the viewer merely questions the biased patriotic viewpoint expressed here, then it falls flat.

I can't understand the huge support there is for Mary Brown. During the film, she ruins the life of her granddaughter and the granddaughter's mother, by kidnapping the granddaughter. She is sop convinced of who is guilty of what, that she takes law into her own hands, and commits great cruelty towards the granddaughter's mother, without any proofs. And also she is mean and cruel to any one, in her attempt to get all things, her mean way. A true deranged fanatic. So, in all, in the scenes, where people had a hard time to keep the eyes dry, because it was so beautiful, I had a hard time not to vomit.

The granddaughter's mother, Dusty, who suffered during the entire series, is apparently more evil than the devil, according to the creators of the show. To me, Dusty is the hero of the series, her and her daughter, those two living a happy life together, would be beautiful to me. And the director, when filming the "oh-so-happy" scenes, after the Mary Brown conducted kidnapping, fails to realise, what evil it is, to rob a young of her mother. But this show seems to have nothing to do with reality or truth, even the word "justice" in the title, couldn't have been used more incorrectly.

It's just a manipulative little show, and very horrible, horrible, horrible!

unbelievably a true story!

[AngelDolphin1410 · 10/10 · 30 January 2005]

This movie made me very sad because it was a true story. Patty Duke's acting in this film is absolutely excellent and at times gave me a lump in my throat, what an incredibly strong character, to have lost her only child to murder then have to fight for her son's widow to be brought to justice and to seek custody of her grand-daughter, what an incredibly strong woman. Dusty was very lucky to have such a sweet, loving, caring husband and to have him murdered was an evil act and I am glad she got what was coming to her. At the end of the film where Dusty is sentenced and when Mary and Jack are alone in the courtroom, I had tears in my eyes when Mary turned to Jack and said : "I wish Chris was here, I want to hold him in my arms and say you can rest now Mum and Dad have taken care of everything", poor Mary and Jack losing that precious boy, but at least they have little Christine to help them go on and at least they got the justice they needed, this was an excellent film with great acting especially from Patty Duke.

A made up story claimed to be a true story. Some parts are true, most are not.

[rjack13 · 1/10 · 2 September 2006]

I would just like to comment that, not only have I seen this movie, I also know the people involved. This movie is a wounded mother's delusional idea of what she thinks might have happened. Unfortunately, this story could not be further from the truth. The "victim" in this movie is the one that started the whole event and died as a result of being stabbed (in self defense) by the man he attacked. Not to mention this was by his own knife. He had a history of jealousy over the "Dusty" character, as well as previous attacks on the man that he tried to kill. Also, he and Dusty were already separated. I used to love lifetime movies, but now I know they only portray what they are payed to, and you can't always believe their ideas of moments of "truth" and "justice". This movie is nuts!

Patty Duke At Her Best!

[ShelbyTMItchell · 9/10 · 28 February 2013]

Patty Duke at her best as she plays Mary Brown, a mother who was grief stricken when her only child Chris, was murdered and left behind a little girl in the process.

Feeling that the justice system failed her, she wages a one woman crusade against the ex-wife, Dusty who only used Chris to murder him and gain his money. Bringing her to justice and winning custody of their granddaughter Christine back.

Duke really makes you want to care for her character. And her husband, played by Martin Sheen make a strong couple as they want to bring the trash ex-wife of their only son to justice. Really a strong movie and it was true!

not the worst for a TV movie

[Goon-2 · 24 May 1999]

I say this because(for a long variety of reasons) I do not often care for TV movies, or take them very seriously. I'm not saying that this was a huge exception to the rule, but I suppose there have been worse.

Patsy Duke, Martin Sheen and Jason London are the loving Brown family, who live happily in the South until son Christopher(London)joins the army. It is there that he meets Dusty(Alexandra Powers)and they fall in love and get married, even though Ma and Pa Brown know that Dusty is bad news. And she does turn out to be. Money-hungry and selfish, Dusty ends up creepily killing Christopher for his money. She pretends she played no part in it, even though Ma Brown knows the truth(how? She just knows), and because of that, she gets money and full custody of Chris's and her daughter, Christine. Ma and Pa Brown are furious. They don't care about the money, but they know that if Christine is left alone with Dusty than she won't be properly cared for. Thus begins their brave struggle to capture Dusty, who goes on the lam after Ma and Pa try to fight her, and let their granddaughter have a little love from them.

The story is pretty stereotypical, complete with court room scenes, femme fatals and the whole bit, and Mrs. Duke and Mr. Sheen's Southern accents are well, grating, but the script is fairly entertaining, and in the course of seeing this twice, I was intrigued the first time(I was also 11 or something)and simply more entertained the second time. At least it has staying power.

A Matter Of Justice

[parton2057 · 10/10 · 15 May 2006]

I own the movie and i think that it is just great my husband & I love the movie but can you please tell me the person and name of the song that was playing in the bar when Chris met dusty.They say that this movie was based on a true story ,well where did the true story take place at and was Jack & Mary Brown the parent's real names? And in the real story did the Brown's really get custody of their granddaughter? And what year did this all take place? Is this movie out on DVD in the stores like at circuit city or best buys? Do you know if Patty Duke & Martin Sheen are going to make anymore movies together? I think that they act really good together.

nothing special

[royg-4 · 5/10 · 8 August 2005]

Nothing special here.

Even though the story may be based on fact that's no excuse for rendering it in a manner that reeks stereotype.

Patty Duke's performance is adequate, but gives little depth to her character. Perhaps the real life woman was so totally obsessed in her quest that she too showed little else. Then she would have been boring too. But more is expected in a dramatization. Even the Terminator evinced more personality.

Martin Sheen's performance is more believable. Charles S. Dutton actually seems like a real person.

As usual, the devil has the best role. Alexandra Powers gives an excellent performance as the evil Dusty. In his small role her last boyfriend is also good.

Strong

[RaeganBeaumont_99 · 10/10 · 15 August 2006]

A young man joins the marines and falls for a woman who is nothing like his family would have liked. Shes a user, cruel and heartless. His new wife who doesn't seem to be anyones wife has him killed so she can have the insurance money and be free to do what she wanted as well as keep their baby daughter so she will have all the military rights there is. His mother is a outspoken, bossy woman who go to any lengths to find the proof and to get back her granddaughter who was stolen from them by their ex daughter-in-law. She goes as high as she can talking to congressman and anyone who will listen. They fight everyone they can to get their granddaughter back home and the woman who killed their son in prison where she should be. Patty Duke was great in this movie and she was tough and strong and i think every mother would hope to be as tough and strong as her if we were in the same position. She was loudmouthed and in your face and at times annoying. She was controlling and to demanding a person. But she did seem to get the woman who murder her son, and get her granddaughter back. She was a fighter. And her son deserved the justice, he was brutally my murdered and there was no reason for it. A great movie, touching and awe inspiring.

Good Story , bad producer

[brbrknndy · 5/10 · 21 September 2013]

Lifetime movies generally operate by the following conditions: 1. All gun owners are bad and evil; especially in Oklahoma as depicted in this movie. 2. All male characters are feminine, weak and neutered, no backbone, except for the evil ones. The female characters are the only people accomplishing anything or showing any strength. 3. All liberal states with strict gun control laws like Illinois are depicted as good states.

If the above had been taken out of the subject movie, I probably would have given it 5 stars.

This was a good story with excellent acting by Patty Duke and Martin Sheen and others that made this an okay movie to watch. Just keep in mind that some of the parts were changed from what really happened to accommodate the above three items. I have relatives in Oklahoma and they are not like what was depicted in the movie.

Best true story movie, within the top 5. Patti Duke was sensational!

[Lexi9518 · 10/10 · 2 July 2023]

So sad. But the acting is literally superb. Acting like southerners with " class & hood integrity one's) as Patti love her son Chris, baby Krissy so much. Sad he doesn't not listening to his astute mama." May he continue RIP.

Dusty? Straight trash l. I'm very happy while continue rip in heaven, the killer was caught & no good dusty." Not that his wife was older, but she did it for benefits smh cash etc."

That's just plain ole' evil." I am not sure why in the world, Chris assumed a lady as loose and wild and neglectful as a mother like Dusty would ever change.

He should have known better and it is sad how he died so brutal, so so gruesomely and I pray that More men, all ages, would be careful out there because there are women still around just like her.

Watching on dvd now Part one & two.

Decent, but cliched movie

[irisee · 11 October 2002]

I do take exception to the portrayal of Ada, Oklahoma in this movie. Since I happen to be from there, I felt it necessary to defend my hometown. I'm not sure where the Ada scenes were actually shot. It certainly wasn't in Ada. Ada is not so small a town that a posse of rednecks in pick-up trucks would run you out of it to "protect one of their own" - as was stated in this movie. To my knowledge that has never happened in Ada. Ada is also not so small a town that everyone knows everyone else. It is not a town of 500 people, it's a town of about 17,000 and it has a state university. I felt this movie painted an unfair portrait to anyone who doesn't know Ada and has never been there, as well as the state of Oklahoma for that matter.

The way story telling should be

[steeleronaldr · 10/10 · 13 September 2021]

First off and I state with sheer truth that I haven't seen a movie with Patty Duke I did not like. She was definitely a television A-List actress. Martin Sheen is another highly gifted actor and another that I've seen in multiple movies that were all good. As for Alexandria Powers I don't recall her and Jason London not to confuse him with his twin brother Jeremy London I've seen in a few movies that I thought were ok.

Patty Duke has a field day as Mary Brown; the mother of a marine son who was murdered by a fellow marine with his wife at the base of the murder plot for money. Alexandria Powers is riveting as the wife of Chris Brown who she had murdered. Her performance along with Patty Duke light this movie into a blaze. It's like they fed off each other and results were amazing. Martin Sheen as Jack Brown father of Chris Brown holds his own. Jason London who played Chris Brown was ok but his performance I thought got swallowed up by Patty Duke and Alexandria Powers. The chemistry between the entire cast was stellar and from start to finish it's hard to pull away from the screen.

When a naive marine cadet meets a older woman at a bar sparks quickly fly and the two get married and soon after has a daughter. As their marriage slowly deteriorate she starts turning to other men neglecting their daughter. Once she learns that her husband is worth more dead than alive she uses her femme fatale power to get her new lover to murder him. Mary Brown (Patty Duke) soon learns the truth and makes it her goal to bring both the killer of her son and his wife to justice.

I love movie's that are based on a actual event and this movie was well researched and put together perfectly. Somehow this movie avoids falling into that soap opera rut and moved at a pace that allows the viewer to learn each character as the movie progresses. The courtroom scenes were a bit shallow but the rest of the movie makes up for it. At 3 hours long this movie holds up great and doesn't mellow out right up to the last scene. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves justice being served to those who earn it.

I liked the movie BUT..........

[Clareca · 9/10 · 4 August 2004]

I have lived in Ada almost all my life,people here are not that HICK. Talbert must be from Atoka or Byres OK. 90 percent of the people do not talk like he did. Main Street does not look like that, and they couldn't go North on Main, Main runs East to West. I did not know where they are in the Ada shots. The Court house is for real,{I think}.I have watched this movie five to six times.I've even taped the Ada parts,and can't figure out any of the buildings. Or where the highway 99 is they that come in on and leave. Or where that flea market is suppose to be, we do not have flea markets in Ada that must be old Paris in OKC. But I do love Patty, and wish I had known she was in Ada America!

It is not Ada OK.

[Clareca · 9/10 · 16 August 2004]

Spoiler I live in Ada,OK. And have since birth. After seeing this movie several times I taped the parts that are suppose to be filmed in Ada,OK.

After reviewing this taped about 10 times and showing it to my sisters we have determined it is NOT Ada,OK. First of all you can not go North on Main Street, it goes East to West. Ada has never had that type street lights on Main Street. The view around the Court House does not match with our court house. None of the buildings look like Ada Main St.

There isn't a Flee Market in Ada,OK. Trust me "WE" are not that back country{hick} here. Granted the smaller towns around Ada talk as Talbert did. And last of all it is not Ada County Court House, it would be PONOTOC County Court House.

But I thought it was a very good TV movie. Loved how the grandparents won in the end and the wife got what she deserved.