As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHarrison Ford's hair was cut in such a way as to make him look more stiff and unlikable than his previous leading man characters.
- GoofsSandy and his attorney visit the former DA. Raymond, as his new office. They discuss his upcoming testimony to the grand jury. In reality, this is witness tampering and would never be done by a defense attorney at that stage of a case.
- Quotes
Det. Lipranzer: How ya doin'? Christmas present.
[takes out glass which was key piece of evidence that went missing during the trial]
Rusty Sabich: You're sticking your neck out pretty far on this one, Lip.
Det. Lipranzer: It was *them* that fucked up. Remember when they came around and gathered *all* the evidence? The glass wasn't there, I took it down to Dickerman. The next day, I get a call. The test is done, I can come pick up my glass. But when I went down there, Molto had already signed the receipt 'returned to evidence.' I guess they figured I'd put it back. Only, I got no reason to put it anyplace since it ain't my Goddamned case anymore. So I tossed the thing in my drawer. I figure sooner or later someone's gotta ask me about it. Nobody did.
Rusty Sabich: You think I killed her.
Det. Lipranzer: The lady was bad news.
Rusty Sabich: So that makes it okay that I killed her.
Det. Lipranzer: Did ya?
Rusty Sabich: Oh, pal.
[sigh, tosses glass into the water]
- Alternate versionsThe UK cinema version was cut by 10 secs by the BBFC for a '15' certificate to remove the lines "He was trying to fuck her to death" and "Paying to suck his cock in a public place". Video releases were upgraded to an '18' though the prints used were the same as the cut cinema version.
- SoundtracksMacNamara's Band
Music by Shamus O'Connor
Original Lyrics by John J. Stamford
American Version Lyrics by Red Latham, Walter Carlson (as Wamp Carlson) and Guy Bonham
Harrison Ford is the deputy DA accused of murdering one of the female attorneys in his office. Ford's character is that of a strident upholder of the law who strays into marital infidelity. Caroline Polhemus, played by Greta Scacchi, is beautiful and manipulative, using her sexuality to get what she wants, career advancement and power.
Ford is assigned to head the murder investigation team, however, his boss, played by Brian Dennehy, loses his re-election bid a few weeks later and the new district attorney charges Ford with Caroline's murder. He knows Ford had had an affair with the victim and has physical evidence that he was at the murder scene and had been placing phone calls to her apartment in the days prior to her death.
The continuing investigation by Harrison Ford's team of lawyers and his friends in the DA's office and the trial highlight the remainder of this film. Events take strange twists and turns and the viewer is taken along for the ride without really knowing where it will take him. The ending is a bit of a surprise and neatly ties everything together.
The direction by Alan J. Pakula is tight and suspenseful. I thought it was his best film since the early days when he directed "Klute" and "The Parallax View" - certainly better than the muddled "Pelican Brief." The overriding theme of the movie is darkness, people hiding secrets from one another, and the direction emphasizes that. There are very few outdoor daytime scenes and most of the interior shots are of dark rooms and corridors.
Harrison Ford is good in the role of the besieged deputy DA, but I thought the secondary actors were the ones who made this picture as good as it was. Raul Julia plays Ford's attorney defending him in court and he's excellent (I thought it was his best role in any film). He's urbane and confident, and he steers the defense through a very difficult set of circumstances.
Bonnie Bedelia plays Ford's wife and her character is much more complex than that of the supportive wife standing by her man. She also has dark secrets of her own and she plays the part with sly understatement. John Spencer ("L.A. Law") plays an investigator in the DA's office helping Ford, Brian Dennehy plays Ford's boss who turns on him, and Paul Winfield plays the judge handling the trial, and all are excellent.
My only criticisms would come from Harrison Ford's character, who is so emotionally detached that it makes the circumstances of the affair with Greta Scacchi unbelievable. He's not an easy person to identify with or feel sympathy for, but the film is so well done that you can easily skip over that void and just sit back and enjoy the performances.
- senortuffy
- Feb 27, 2004
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Se presume inocente
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $86,303,188
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,718,981
- Jul 29, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $221,303,188
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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