A pedophile, Trevor Hemlock, is brutally beaten when Detective Jack Probetti loses his temper during the interrogation. Later, the conviction is overruled when a missing video of the beating is presented as evidence. Hemlock is free and Probetti is thrown off the force, a disgrace. Facing civil rights violations and imprisonment, Probetti hunts down Hemlock and delivers him to the parents of the children he victimized for final retribution. But in the end, the scales of justice are balanced when fate steps in and is the final judge left to decide Hemlock’s sentence.
Full Synopsis
A group of young boys are huddled around a Bronx sewer trying to fish out a lost ball in order to finish playing their game of stickball. Just as they are about to pull the ball from the murk, Trevor Hemlock (Marc Seda) startles them and the ball is lost again. Later, Hemlock baits one of the kids by offering him a new ball under the condition that it is returned to him later. Hemlock is tormented by the recollection of a brutal beating he received from detective Jack Probetti (James McSherry) during an interrogation regarding his involvement of sexual attacks upon neighborhood children. The violent beating is captured on video but covered up by other members of the police department. The case against Hemlock is dismissed when the missing video turns up in court. The case against Hemlock is thrown out and Probetti, facing dismissal and imprisonment, decides to hand over Hemlock to the parents of the abused children. Probetti writes letters to the parents and tells them to meet him at an old warehouse so he can make up for his blowing of the case. Probetti becomes the hunter and Hemlock his prey. After a chase through Bronx streets, alleys and rooftops Hemlock is caught and delivered to the families so they can have five minutes alone with the molesting monster. As the families argue to decide Hemlock’s fate, destiny decides the appropriate punishment.
Written and directed by a former NYPD detective named William Lappe, Even Steven takes a hard look at just one of the many moral issues that police officers face everyday while enforcing the law. The short film stars James McSherry, an award winning playwright and author of a memoir entitled “A Clean Streets A Happy Street”. Lappe also called upon his child hood friends, including Marc Seda who made his acting debut playing Hemlock. Fellow police officers and family members helped bring Lappe’s vision to the screen.
