Review of True Crime (1999) by Marie S — 27 Jun 2009

Before Eastwood worked his way down the "Mystic River", he directed himself in a handful of decent films. None werel excellent, but if you're a fan of his then you can easily find yourself getting sucked in.

This is one of them. It starts out great and continues building up well enough but in the end just doesn't deliver. Eastwood plays recovering alcoholic, Steve Everett (one of his many flawed characters) an adulteruous journalist who tries to redeem himself by attempting to uncover the truth behind Frank Beachum (Isaiah Washington), a death row inmate convicted of murder.

Beachum is set to die by lethal injection at midnight and what was at first a sidebar human interest piece for Steve is now something vitally important. As he follows his nose, we see how messed up his marriage is and his relationship with his little girl and realize that his work has isolated him from everyone he holds dear.

His work may be all he has but he's on thin ice with his editors, one (played by Denis Leary) cuz he slept with his wife and the other (played by James Woods) cuz of their history together and cuz he botched up last high-profile story.

But that was cuz of his drinking which he has overcome but it still makes it hard for those who know Steve, to trust him. At first, I just thought this was gonna be some message film about the death penalty or possibly a simple investigative procedural.

While the script may be somewhat formulaic and predictable, it's hard not to follow Eastwood along and it's especially enjoyable seeing him interact with a great cast here. Eastwood the director does a solid job building the tension along as we see Beachum and his wife (Lisa Gay Hamilton) come to terms with his fate despite their belief in his innocence.

Yet, the last 15 minutes seems a bit too quick despite his race against time and kinda tacked on as all the pieces start to conveniently come together. Still, Eastwood gives the film a nice rhythm, weaving his character's peronal life in and out of his work.

The interaction Steve Everett has with others isn't wasted, the actors do their part well. It's just the story that seem to not know if this is a mystery or a thriller. I guess there are enough little details here to make this an entertaining experience but it does make me think that this kind of investigative journalism film will soon be a thing of the past.