while emotionally challenging to process at times, this film truly nails its landing as a story about redemption, hope, challenging the system, and making great changes for those who are mistreated and cannot speak up for themselves
scene by scene you wish "55 Steps" made you angrier than it does. Yet August's docile filmmaking acts as an emotional soporific, removing even the potential camp pleasures of Bonham Carter's histrionics
Helena Bonham Carter and Hilary Swank invigorate an otherwise dry legal drama; Somehow, these two difficult people are easy to watch, at least on the screen. They are honest to a fault, which is, in the end, their charm