PRESUMED INNOCENT
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A tightly plotted mystery that often threatens to leave loose ends and them very cleverly ties them all together. Harrison Ford again plays a cipher the audience is not intended to understand (but how many more such roles can he find?). Recommended for Agatha Christie fans. Rating: high +2.
At the risk of starting this review with a (very mild) spoiler, I will say that not until the final seconds of this film does one recognize what a clever and well-constructed plot this film really has. In the tradition of the best of Agatha Christie a tight and complex knot comes apart with one deceptively simple tug. The story of PRESUMED INNOCENT is not told in an Agatha Christie storybook style at all. Instead it is told with a harder and more realistic edge. The backdrop is the highly politicized office of the Prosecuting Attorney. Harrison Ford plays Rusty Sabich, an assistant to the Prosecuting Attorney investigating the rape-murder of an attractive and ambitious co-worker. But his investigation is cut short by a political reversal that not only leaves the investigation in another Prosecutor's hands, but also leaves Rusty the prime suspect for the crime.
The one dramatic problem with the film is that the audience is intentionally placed outside the action. Through the whole film, much more than is necessary or even realistic, Rusty Sabich is an enigma. The audience is desperate to hear his side of the accusation, but frustratingly it is kept from us. We get details about Sabich about as frequently and easily as the rival prosecutor does. And matters are not helped by having Harrison Ford in the role. Ford plays the role extremely blandly and woodenly. Even as a man going through some serious crises, it is very hard to believe Ford as a successful attorney and assistant to the Prosecutor.
Alan Pakula directed PRESUMED INNOCENT from a script that is very tightly written by Frank Pierson and Pakula. It builds its view of what actually happened a bit at a time, with a very slow, painstaking introduction of clues, much like Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. Brian Dennehy plays the Chief Prosecutor Raymond Horgan and honkers down in his role with his usual apparent ease. Raul Julia plays Sabich's attorney as just a bit dishonest. Bonnie Bedelia plays Rusty's wife and Greta Scaachi plays the victim whom we see a lot considering her short screen time.
PRESUMED INNOCENT is a real attention-holder that is solid plot and no filler. I rate it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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