Review of Presumed Innocent (1990) by Dillon R — 03 Apr 2006

[color=black]Courtroom thrillers are hard for me to criticize. I know nothing about how the judicial system works or what's what when it comes to sentencing a person convicted of murder. But I do know atmosphere when I see it, and Presumed Innocent has the kind of moody, shadowy atmosphere that perfectly fits a genre where the outcome of a man's life is entirely out of his hands.[/color].

[color=black]"I am a prosecutor" are the first words spoken in the film by a voice who speaks with much regret. A monologue opens Presumed Innocent with a sad and fateful tone. It's spoken by Harrison Ford, who has a seemingly perfect voice for the role. He plays Rusty Sabich, a husband and father who's life is seemingly average and happy. That all changes when he gets to the office and discovers that Carolyn Polhemus, a woman he was involved with, has been murdered. From the looks of it she was raped, tied up, and beaten to death. There was no sign of forced entry and the killer's finger prints were left on a glass. Eventually, the prints are found to be Sabich's, and he finds himself up against the same legal system that he works for.[/color].

[color=black]I hesitate to call Presumed Innocent a courtroom thriller since the core of the story is actually about a how a man's past mistakes and how they come back to haunt him. Harrison Ford is the perfect actor for this role. His subtlety and quiet manner makes him a believable wrongly accused man. We're not supposed to guess if he's innocent. Since it's Ford, we know he is. The movie puts us in a position where it doesn't matter who did it, but why they did it. [/color].

[color=#000000]Most movies about lawyers examine who they are in court and how they defend their clients, guilty or innocent. Presumed Innocent goes the opposite way and shows us Sabich at home, with his family, and even gives us flashbacks to his nights with the woman he's been accused of murdering. All of this is presented with pitch perfect cinematography by Gordon Willis. Every scene is draped in shadow and fits the feeling of a man wrongly accused. Along with the photography is an excellent score by John Williams.[/color].

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[color=#000000]Bonnie Bedelia plays Ford's wife as a woman who tries her best to hide that she's unhappy, but her unhappiness is too overwhelming to hide. In every scene she's in, she fills the screen with her despair of how Ford's infedelity has damaged their marriage. As Ford's boss, Brian Dennehy plays Raymond Horagan with a straight forward frankness that's very convincing. Raul Julia also has a rather small role as Sabich's attorney but plays him with the right amount of professional seriousness and sympathy for Sabich. [/color].

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[color=#000000]The movie winds up to be sort of tragic by the time it's over. There is a surprise at the end but it feels like less of a surprise and more like a sad, predetermined outcome. The final scene is an example of why Ford is so good at underplaying. His face says everything and speaks to the audience without saying a word. The reason the end is so effective and so moving to the audience is that we know how Ford feels about the truth. He understands why this has happened and, tragically, has to live with it. [/color].