In the city of Spokane, Washington, Kevin Coe (Dale Midkiff) is a real estate agent who always tries to come across as being the slickest guy in the room. With his quick smile and his moderately expensive suits, Kevin certainly seems to fit the stereotype. It’s only when you start to look a little closer that the surface starts to crack.
For someone who goes out of his way to come across as being confident, Kevin is actually very immature and more than a little whiny. He’s living with a perfectly nice young woman named Ginny (Heather Fairfield) but it’s obvious that he’s keeping secrets from her. He comes home one morning with scratches on his face and, when she asks about them, he claims that 1) he got mauled by a dog and 2) he doesn’t need any sort of medical attention. Kevin is someone who frequently loses his job because he’s just not that good at it. When one boss fires him, Kevin replies that he’s going to start his own business and someday, maybe he’ll be the one doing the hiring and firing. It’s classic empty cope.
And then there’s Kevin’s mother. Ruth Coe (Elizabeth Montgomery) is someone who likes to present herself as being a grand diva, in the manner of a Golden Screen star. She’s extremely close to her son, at times overprotective and at times overly critical. Kevin often goes from yelling at his mom to dancing with her within minutes. Ruth makes it clear that she doesn’t like Ginny and Ginny eventually grows to dread seeing Ruth wandering around their house, uninvited. And yet, despite all of the time that Kevin spends talking about how wants to get away from his mother and to live his own life, Kevin doesn’t really make much of an effort to do that.
Meanwhile, Detective Liz Trent (Talia Balsam) is investigating a series of rapes that have been committed in Spokane. When she comes to suspect that Kevin is the rapist, Kevin claims that it’s not true and it’s just another case of the world treating him unfairly. Ruth stands by her son and eventually shocks everyone with just how far she’s willing to go to try to keep him out of prison.
Sins of the Mother is based on a true story. Kevin Coe may have only been convicted of four rapes but he is suspected of having committed at least 41. In prison, he insisted he was innocent and refused to attend any counseling programs. He also refused to apply for parole, even after he became eligible. After his criminal sentence was completed in 2008, he was sent to the Special Commitment Center on Washington’s McNeil Island, which is a institution that houses sexual predators who are likely to reoffend. I’m writing this review on September 15th. Coe, as of this writing, is scheduled to be released from McNeil on October 3rd so, by the time you’re reading this, he could already be out. Coe is 78 and is reported to be in fragile health.
As for the movie, it’s mostly memorable for Elizabeth Montgomery’s over the top performance as Ruth Coe. Sweeping into every scene and delivering her lines in what appears to be a deliberately fake-sounding Southern accent, Montgomery chews the scenery with gusto. While the rest of the cast often seems to be going through the motions, Montgomery grabs hold of this movie and refuses to surrender it.
Through the Shattered Lens 