We've been bamboozled!

That's pretty much the message behind "Hot Coffee" (9 tonight, HBO), a powerful documentary about the distortions of the tort reform movement.

If you're not really clear about what 'tort reform' means, it's OK. You'll see in the film that lots of folks don't, even folks that may have voted for it. Basically, the film looks at the movement around stemming frivolous lawsuits.

Sounds like a good idea, right. But what the documentary shows is that the case that launched the movement wasn't really frivolous -- the famous, much noted 1992 case of the woman who sued McDonald's because its coffee was too hot.

"Hot Coffee" reveals details about the case you probably don't know. Really, all you need to do is see the pictures of the defendant Stella Liebeck's burns, and you'll change your mind about the case. The images are horrifying.