Name: Film Review: Presumed Innocent (1990)
Item: Presumed Innocent
Rating: 70
Author: @drax

(source: tmdb.org)

Star power is, or at least used to be, manifested in actor’s ability to turn into massive hit a film that seemed unlikely to do so. Harrison Ford, actor made famous for his roles in action and adventure films, displayed such power while starring in Presumed Innocent, 1990 courtroom drama directed by Alan J. Pakula, now known as one of the commercially most successful examples of the genre.

The film is based on best-selling novel by respected American jurist Scott Turow. Protagonist, played by Ford, is Rozat “Rusty” K. Sabich, prosecutor who works as right-hand man for district attorney Raymond Horgan (played by Brian Dennehy). When his colleague, an attractive woman Carolyn Polhemus (played by Greta Scacchi) gets murdered, Rusty is put in charge of investigation. He is rather reluctant to do so, because he had brief and passionate affair with Carolyn which ended badly and nearly ruined his marriage to Barbara (played by Bonnie Bedelia), mathematician with whom he had a son Nat (played by Jesse Bradford). Rusty tries to point investigation towards Carolyn’s files dealing with possible corruption in judiciary. However, evidence at the crime scene points towards Rusty who is charged and later tried for the murder. He is forced to hire his old adversary, defence attorney Sandy Stern (played by Raul Julia), in order to prove his innocence.

The plot of Presumed Innocent, at first glance, doesn’t look that different from countless other courtroom dramas and thrillers in which audience must decipher relatively simple truth after being bombarded with plenty of red herrings. What sets this film apart is in high production values; film rights for Turow’s best-selling novel were purchased by producers Sydney Pollack and Mark Rosenberg form 1 million US$ and ultimate budget of around 20 million US$ was unusually high for that sort of film. Director Alan J. Pakula doesn’t allow much of it to be shown in the film – most of the scenes take place in interiors, in claustrophobic and dark offices made even more depressing by effective cinematography by Gordon Willis. What the budget bought is the excellent cast, led by Ford who obviously enjoyed playing against type and proving that he can be serious dramatic actor. Ford, who tried to disassociate his new character from his stellar personality through new hairstyle, plays unusually weak and passive protagonist who more often than not brings sympathy rather than admiration from audience. This is also helped by Pakula’s methodical approach who carefully leaves crucial information from the audience hidden and only slowly reveals the truth that might not be so flattering for Rusty. This also works for the character of victim, who is gradually, through flashback scenes, introduced as ruthless person who used sex to advance her careers leaving plenty of broken hearts. The rest of the cast, made out of superb character actors, is also very good; larger-than-life Raul Julia shines as intelligent and unapologetically ruthless defence attorney; Paul Winfiled is great as no-nonsense judge; Bonnie Bedelia is great as protagonist’s cynical and long suffering wife. Pakula moves things slowly, but at times his low-key approach makes Presumed Innocent look like a television film – an impression suppressed only by use of profanities and flashback scene that feature steamy love scene between Rusty and Carolyn. Another interesting segment, which was taken by Turow’s novel and original author’s experiences in notoriously corrupt Chicago, is display of omnipresent corruption within US judicial system where sexual manipulation and trading favours leave almost everyone compromised.

Pakula with his disciplined direction, on the other hand, can’t compensate for some of the flaws in the script by Frank Pierson. There are subplots that unnecessary complicate matters, like the election campaign involving protagonist’s boss. The film, which very effectively plays with audience’s expectations and even considerations whether the protagonist himself is guilty or not, ends with somewhat unconventional twist which looks too obvious in retrospect. Despite unconventional ending that is somewhat dark and might leave some viewers embittered, Presumed Innocent is intelligent, competently done and for the most part satisfying film. Its huge commercial success, mainly attributed to Ford’s stellar status, didn’t lead to sequels on big screen. 1992 television series The Burden of Proof (with Hector Elizondo as Sandy Stern) and 2011 television film Innocent (with Bill Pullman as Rusty) were made instead.

RATING: 7/10 (++)