The website's critical consensus reads, "Thanks to an outstanding script, focused direction by Alan Pakula, and a riveting performance from Harrison Ford, Presumed Innocent is the kind of effective courtroom thriller most others aspire to be." Where Presumed Innocent really takes off, though, and begins to catch an authentic flavour of the book is in the courtroom performances. And the supporting performances include Paul Winfield as a judge with hidden motives, Raul Julia as a defense attorney who can't get his client to stop acting like a lawyer, and Dennehy, expansive and yet with a wall of flint when it comes to saving his own skin. Sign up here. It presents a more intriguing and certainly more complicated portrait of cinema's historic struggle with representations of female agency and sexuality. Movies; Reviews; Presumed Innocent Review. Mr. Just confirm how you got your ticket. Coming Soon. Was justice done. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval score of 87% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 7.43/10. The Bonnie Bedelia performance as the wife is another tricky challenge, since she, too, must be ambiguous throughout. This is, as everybody knows by now, the dilemma in which Rusty Sabich finds himself, midway through "Presumed Innocent." The Ford character faces the complete collapse of his life as he knew it. Presumed Innocent (film) has been listed as one of the Media and drama good articles under the good article criteria.If you can improve it further, please do so.If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. This could have been a great movie, but, despite being a darn good yarn well told, the essential magic is somehow missing. Actors: Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Greta Scacchi, Bonnie Bedelia, Raul Julia. 1,563 reviews. Harrison Ford was not at his most dynamic, charming, or interesting, and the supporting players were also relatively bland; when Raul Julia is bland in a film, you've got a story. Thanks to an outstanding script, focused direction by Alan Pakula, and a riveting performance from Harrison Ford, Presumed Innocent is the kind of effective courtroom thriller most others aspire to be. This has been a summer of loud movies, of explosions and gunfire, screams and crashes. Movies; Reviews; Presumed Innocent Review. As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else. Turow, a successful Chicago lawyer, cra… Ford gives a smart, self-effacing performance. |, April 9, 2019 Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. Maybe I am also a sucker for twist endings, but as long as they make a good twist ending (like The Sixth Sense) instead of a stupid twist ending (like The Village) than I am happy. Prosecuting attorney Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy) assigns his chief deputy, the taciturn Rusty Sabitch (Harrison Ford), to investigate the rape and murder of colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), unaware of their torrid affair. How do you defend yourself against a charge of rape when you were having an affair with the dead woman, and your fingerprints are on a glass in her apartment, and the phone records reveal that you called her earlier in the evening, and it would appear that your semen has been found at the scene of the crime? Regal Coming Soon. Published in 1987, it was the first novel by Turow, a graduate of Harvard Law School, and it does venture well outside the action-driven plotting of much genre fiction. Given my general distaste for legal thrillers, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking this. Presumed Innocent is a stylish, dark-toned movie with handsome photography (by Gordon Willis) and solid performances. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number. When someone rapes and murders D.A Carolyn Polhemus, her boss assigns his assistant, Rusty Sabich, to handle the investigation. Prosecuting attorney Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy) assigns his chief deputy, the taciturn Rusty Sabitch (Harrison Ford), to investigate the rape and murder of colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), unaware of their torrid affair. What's great about the reveal is that it's not unfair. For ''Presumed Innocent,'' such is the cinematic paradox of literary success. His boss, the elected district attorney, played by Brian Dennehy, assigns Rusty to handle the investigation into Carolyn Polhemus' death (played by Greta Scacchi). But nothing in Presumed Innocent is what it seems. Presumed Innocent was a brilliantly scripted courtroom drama that grabs the audience's attention from the opening scene where Harrison Ford narrates. Ford's taciturn and undemonstrative acting style is well suited to the challenge. Without exploiting the sensationalistic elements of the material, director Pakula creates a fascinating mood of impending disaster. I was all set to give it two stars or lower, and then the end happened. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. At first the investigation goes slowly, and then suddenly incriminating evidence surfaces, and the investigator finds himself named as the accused. ...a refreshingly adult drama that certainly captures the spirit of Turow's padded-out book. Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 Ralph Novak People Magazine Movie Reviews Trailers Film Festivals ... That’s certainly the case with Presumed Innocent. Pakula's intense and complex psychological court room drama has been overlooked for more than two decades now. Scott Turow is the author of many bestselling works of fiction, including Testimony, Identical, Innocent, Presumed Innocent, and The Burden of Proof, and two nonfiction books, including One L, about his experience as a law student.His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and … |, August 17, 2019 Skip to Main Content All the clues are there, but they're so subtly placed that it's understandable that I didn't pick up on them. Why did it miss the radar of audiences is something difficult to guess, yet Ford's pressence should at least be the first "evidence" to guarantee entertainment for hesitating people that may approach this solid piece. Ford plays one person with his family, and another person in his job, and I think that is some very good acting. Part of the quiet was due to the absorbing nature of the story, I suppose, but a lot of it may have been caused by people reflecting, as I always do during stories like this, that there - but for the grace of God - go we. |, July 30, 2015 Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Forgot your password? Presumed Innocent is a stylish, dark-toned movie with handsome photography (by Gordon Willis) and solid performances. |, July 31, 2013 Who is guilty? It got me. Her name was Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), and she had the ability to mesmerize men, especially those who could do her some good. When evidence implicates Rusty, Horgan's political enemies demand his arrest, devastating Rusty's wife, Barbara (Bonnie Bedelia). We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your email. "Presumed Innocent" is a labyrinthian thriller with some clever twists and a cast as impressive as the story itself. This movie is based on a best-selling novel by Scott Turow that became notorious for its explicit sexual content - for the detail in which it examined shocking gynecological evidence - and yet the sex wouldn't have sold many copies without the fear. PRESUMED INNOCENT is an intriguing movie which could have been entertaining if director Alan Pakula had chosen an appropriate point of attack to open the film and deleted an artificial ending. Not one of Pakula's best but terrific performances, especially from Paul Winfield and Bonnie Bedelia and Raul Julia. Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service. Harrison Ford is outstanding, probably one of the few lawyer performances that utilizes brevity and nuance over grandstanding and blustery speech making. Overall, while it's no The Usual Suspects, this film gets bonus points for its unpredictable and compelling ending. http://www.moviespoilersite.com When a female D.A. It's the stunning portrayal of one man's all-too-human, all-consuming fatal attraction for a passionate woman who is not his wife, and the story of … "Presumed Innocent" is a very quiet movie, brooding and secretive, about people who are good at masking their emotions. and the Terms and Policies, It is intelligent and absorbing, but it is an entertainment. They give us a nice family, a job, and a set up. |. To greet the 1990s, Alan J. Pakula directed and co-wrote (with Frank Pierson) an adaptation of Scott Turow's legal thriller Presumed Innocent, a film that works not unlike a grab-bag of narrative tropes from earlier successes - and failures - in the director's career.