"Made For Television" are generally three words that do not bode well for satisfying drama. Filmmakers have to pull their punches for television and the result tends to be films that are soft around the edges.

Still, a well told story is a well told story. Many TV movies fail, but some are suprisingly engaging. Redeemer falls into the latter category.

Paul Freeman (Matthew Modine) is a best-selling author. He take a position as a creative writing teacher at a prison in an attempt to generate ideas for a new book. His modus operandi is to get his students to write about how they came to be in prison, figuring that their real stories will be far more convincing than anything he could make up.

He is right.

One of his students, Charles Henderson (Obba Babatunde), has been in prison for most of his adult life. The problem is that he's been convicted of murder, but he didn't kill anyone. Henderson was part of the Black Panther organization. and made routine raids on drug houses to destroy the drugs and steal the money for, they say, community improvement. A routine raid goes horribly wrong when the group enters a house that turns out to be not a drug house, but a fraternity house filled with young, white kids. One of the kids is accidentially shot and when the Panthers leave the house, the cops are waiting for them. They were set up.

Of the Panthers that entered the house, only Henderson has received a full life sentence and has been repeatedly denied parole. Even the shooter is now a free man. Part of what keeps Henderson in prison are the non-stop efforts of Sharon Davidson (Michelle Greene), the sister of the murdered frat boy. She turns up at every parole hearing and testifies against Henderson.

As Freeman learns more about the details of Hendersons continued imprisonment, he becomes obsessed with setting him free. He sees the evidence that Henderson has become a better man and that he no longer deserves incarceration. It becomes his personal mission persuade Sharon to let go of her hatred and forgive Henderson.

Overall, the production values of Redeemer are decent and the direction suits the material. Some interesting camera work was used during the flashback scenes of the murder. The fraternity kids were ordered to strip of their clothes and careful camera positioning and editing effectively gives the impression that the kids are really nude. It's a rather daring scene for a television movie.

The film also does an effective job of generating sympathy for the Henderson character. Yes, he committed a crime, but he did not carry out the murder and it becomes obvious that he should not be serving a harsh life sentence. Modine was a good choice for the role of Freeman. His "everyman" quality goes a long way toward making him likeable despite some of the arrogance his character displays throughout the film.

This isn't the sort of film that will likely stay with you long after the disc has stopped spinning, but it was a pretty good story and worth watching.