Presumed Innocent (film)
| Presumed Innocent | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Release Poster | |
| Directed by | Alan J. Pakula |
| Written by | Scott Turow (novel) Frank Pierson Alan J. Pakula |
| Produced by | Sydney Pollack Mark Rosenberg |
| Starring | Harrison Ford Brian Dennehy Raúl Juliá Bonnie Bedelia Paul Winfield Greta Scacchi |
| Cinematography | Gordon Willis |
| Edited by | Evan A. Lottman |
| Music by | John Williams Richard Wolf |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date | July 27, 1990 |
Running time | 127 min. |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $221,300,000 (worldwide) |
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress.
Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raúl Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield, and Greta Scacchi. It was the eighth highest grossing film of 1990, grossing $221 million worldwide.
A sequel, Scott Turow's Innocent, was a made-for-TV movie aired as part of TNT's Mystery Movie Night series in December 2011.
Plot
"Rusty" Sabich (Ford) is a prosecutor and the right-hand man of Prosecuting Attorney Raymond Horgan (Dennehy). When his colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Scacchi) is found raped and murdered in her apartment, Raymond insists that Rusty take charge of the investigation. The election for County PA is approaching and Tommy Molto (Grifasi), the acting head of Homicide, has left to join the rival campaign of Nico Della Guardia (Mardirosian).
Rusty, a married man, faces a conflict of interest since he had an affair with Carolyn. When he showed little ambition, and would therefore be of little use to her career, she dumped him. He has since made up with his wife, (Bedelia), but is still obsessed with Carolyn.
Detective Greer (Smallwood) is initially in charge of the case, but Sabich has him replaced with Detective Lipranzer (Spencer), whom he persuades to narrow the inquiry so that his relationship with Carolyn is left out. Rusty soon realizes that Molto is making his own inquiries. Aspects of the crime suggest that the killer knew police evidence-gathering procedures and covered it up accordingly. Semen has been found in the victim's body but contains only dead sperm. The killer's blood type was A, the same as Sabich's.
When Nico wins the election, he and Molto accuse Rusty of the crime and push to get evidence against him. They have Rusty's fingerprints on a beer glass from Carolyn's apartment, and fibers from his carpet at home match those found on her body. Lipranzer is removed from the case and Greer's inquiries uncover the affair.
Rusty calls on "Sandy" Stern (Juliá), a top defense attorney, who agrees to take the case. At trial, it is revealed that the beer glass is missing. This was a crucial piece of the prosecution's case and Sandy persuades Judge Larren Lyttle (Winfield) to keep this from the jury. Raymond testifies and perjures himself, claiming that Rusty insisted on handling the investigation, thus confirming the prosecution's claim of a cover-up.
Rusty discovers that Carolyn had acquired a file for a bribery case involving a man called Leon who paid a bribe to get his case thrown out of court. The probation officer who set the whole thing up was Carolyn and the deputy prosecutor in charge of the case was Molto. The thrust of Sandy's defense is that Molto and Nico have set Rusty up as part of a cover-up of the bribery case. Lipranzer tracks down Leon and he reveals that the official who took the bribe was in fact Larren Lyttle, the judge handling Rusty's trial.
During the cross-examination of the coroner Dr. Kumagai (Shimono), it is revealed that Carolyn had undergone a tubal ligation, making it impossible for her to become pregnant. She would have no reason to use the spermicidal contraceptive which was found on her. Sandy asserts that the only explanation for this discrepancy is that the fluid sample was not actually taken from Carolyn's body.
Based on the disappearance of the beer glass, the lack of motive, and the fact that the fluid sample was rendered meaningless, there is no direct evidence to tie Rusty to the murder. Judge Lyttle dismisses the charges.
Sandy admits that he and Raymond knew Lyttle was taking bribes, and Carolyn was his courier. Lyttle offered his resignation, but Raymond believed that he was a brilliant judge and should be given another chance. Lipranzer reveals to Rusty that he has the beer glass, which he never returned to the evidence room. Molto signed it as "returned to evidence" when it was still at the lab and, when it was returned to Lip, he kept it in his desk drawer. Rusty throws the beer glass into the river.
Some time later, Rusty comes across a small hatchet with blood and hair on it and realizes that they are Carolyn's. He confronts his wife, and, referring to herself in the third person, she relates how she committed the crime. She assumed it would be filed under unsolved cases, not anticipating he would be charged with the murder.
In a final voice-over he says that the murder of Carolyn has been written off as unsolved.
Cast
- Harrison Ford as Rozat "Rusty" Sabich
- Brian Dennehy as Raymond Horgan
- Raúl Juliá as Alejandro "Sandy" Stern
- Bonnie Bedelia as Barbara Sabich
- Paul Winfield as Judge Larren Lyttle
- Greta Scacchi as Carolyn Polhemus
- John Spencer as Det. Dan Lipranzer
- Joe Grifasi as Tommy Molto
- Tom Mardirosian as Nico Della Guardia
- Sab Shimono as Dr. Kumagai
- Bradley Whitford as Quentin Kemp
- Christine Estabrook as Lydia MacDougall
- Michael Tolan as Mr. Polhemus
- Jesse Bradford as Nat Sabich
- Joseph Mazzello as Wendell McGaffen
- Tucker Smallwood as Det. Harold Greer
- David Wohl as Morrie Dickerman
Filming locations
The courtroom in the film was built on a back lot.[1] A home in Allendale, New Jersey, was used for the interior and exterior settings for the Sabich's home.[1]
Reception
On the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Presumed Innocent received a 91% approval rating, based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.[2]
Box Office
The film grossed $86 million in North America and a total of $221 million worldwide, making it the eighth highest grossing film of 1990.[3]
References
- ^ a b Duke, Brad (2005). Harrison Ford - The Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
- ^ "Presumed Innocent". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ Box Office Mojo (1990 Worldwide)
