Presumed Innocent (1990)

Link to watch if you have never seen it or want to revisit!

I remember reading the book and there was an overly obvious clue at the beginning. Still a good read, though.

The ending is explained very differently in the book. I think the movie does it better.

I first googled this movie when I saw Scott Turow’s name on Jessica Fletcher’s notes in the Murder She Wrote credits.

I have always thought Paul Winfield was not as appreciated as he should have been. He's a really good actor.

What r5 said and Bonnie Bedelia's quiet acting during her final scene with Rusty made my hair stand on end.

She's a great actor, too.

Meant to add that I don't dislike Harrison Ford, but, imho, his mega-stardom earned for his Han Solo diverts from the reality that he's a mediocre actor.

Who says it "is forgotten about"? I, for one, have the movie permanently recorded.

This book was a massive bestseller and the film was much anticipated and made a lot of money, but somehow it's not one of those benchmark culturally omnipresent thriller titles. Not sure why.

Who played the victim? She was someone who later became famous, wasn't she?

[quote]I have always thought Paul Winfield was not as appreciated as he should have been

This is true. It's also true that Paul was a big ol' queen, which may have affected his career given when he lived. I remember there was some film he did - in the mid-late 90s, I think - where Paul was playing a big queen, and it was like he'd taken his girdle off. Girlfriend finally had a chance to strut her stuff!

Actually, that may have been Mike's Murder, which was in the 80s.

R11 He was in some mainstream TV and movies- King, Sounder, Conrack, Roots, Mikes Murder, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Terminator, 227, Mars Attacks, Touched by an Angel, and narrating City Confidential.

His stage work was what he was known- Othello, Hamlet, Of Mice and Men, Richard III, A Few Good Men, etc.

I like him in this movie and Mars Attacks! where he plays a parody of Colin L. Powell.

Catchy title!

Wait, I can't remember. Is the wife the killer?

R14, that was nasty of you, to spoil it for those who haven't read it or seen it.

But the movie handles the whole thing completely differently than it's handled in the book.

Bonnie Bedelia should have gotten an Oscar nomination for this. (Or did she?)

R9, Because it isn't memorable as a legal thriller.

Compare to "Suspect" or "Runaway Jury."

Runaway Jury was a minor film.

The Firm was cool.

R17, I agree; I considered it, then forgot!

[quote] I remember reading the book and there was an overly obvious clue at the beginning. Still a good read, though.

Ooh what is it?

BUMP

I’ve not forgotten this excellent movie - it’s one of my favourites. So many good actors, too. I also think the movie handles the revelation of the killer much better than the book. It’s disturbing.

I liked the movie a lot. Greta is fine in this (she was everywhere in the early 90s) but the movie is stolen by the final speech, which is creepy, moving and an acting lesson.

Bonnie Bedelia is best acting talent in the Culkin family. She’s even above Kieran.

John Spencer was also good in this.

I’m watching Presumed Innocent tonight, for the first time.

Jealous, bitches? 😎

I really like the score by John Williams. Ford’s stiff acting works well here because his reactions and line delivery make it easy to believe he could be guilty. A young Jesse Bradford plays Ford and Bedelia’s son

Whatever happened to Jesse Bradford? I remember someone on DL said he met him at a family party in Connecticut, and ultimately gave Jesse a long, sloppy blowjob. (Yes it was a guy). And soon after that, Bradford's career disappeared. Coincidence? I think not.

Jesse Bradford has the period when he dated Azealia Banks.

[quote] Because it isn't memorable as a legal thriller. Compare to "Suspect" or "Runaway Jury."

R16 what movie (or book?) is SUSPECT?

Greta Sacchi was gorgeous ......she didn't age very well or she just got tired of starving herself for a career in movies

R30 I think Great Sacchi found a sugar daddy.

Greta Schacci married her cousin.

^ And good for her for not starving herself and eating delicious Italian food.

Didn’t she marry her cousin?

"Whatever happened to Jesse Bradford? I remember someone on DL said he met him at a family party in Connecticut, and ultimately gave Jesse a long, sloppy blowjob. (Yes it was a guy). And soon after that, Bradford's career disappeared. Coincidence? I think not."

I remember that. Somone who went by the name Chad Toyota blew a drunken Jesse Bradford after a party, even though Jesse said he was straight. (Yeah, right.) And his career did go off the rails right after that. Does Datalounge have that kind of power, though? I think it really was a coincidence.

Sorry for the typo. That should read "someone" in the second sentence.

I liked John Spencer's character. "They never asked".

I read the book when it was first published and watched the subsequent movie. Both were very engaging and well-written, and the movie was superbly directed as well.

I love Harrison Ford but his constant underplaying (Jamie Foxx does this when he’s in a Serious Drama) is too low energy. It is a shame Kevin Costner turned down the role. One of those actors who play the Powerful But Slave To His Vulnerabilities American Guy like Costner or Michael Douglas would have been great.

I have always preferred the book's version of the ending (it makes Rusty brighter), but it's hard to deny how great Bedelia was in that scene, and she should have merited a supporting nomination that year for it.

r23 I never knew she was a sister to the crazy Kit Culkin

Greta Scacchi had a child with Vincent D'Onofrio

I thought the cast was great, particularly Ford, Julia, Sacchi, Bedelia, Dennehy, and Paul Winfield

[quote]Greta Scacchi had a child with Vincent D'Onofrio

Who married (and now divorced) Sean Penn.

The ending was spoiled for me but it’s still a great film. Well acted, written and directed. A film for adults. I think Ford is a terrific actor, very sexy here as a man obsessed. Bedelia should have been nominated. Her part could have been over the top and shrill but she played a very layered and complicated character.

R29, Is your Google broken?

R44 she played young Smurf in Animal Kingdom

Bedelia’s character was a perfect argument for having a long engagement. That obsessive putting herself down accompanied by the sideways glances, the indirect remarks, and the little giggles. I have’t rewatched the movie or re-read the book in a couple years and still in my memory she REEKED of deep personal problems every time she was on the screen.

No wonder the guy was prepared to break the first rule of watching your ass: don’t (spoiler alert) fuck around where you work! Especially when you’re married!! To Bedelia’s character in particular!!!

r44 I didn't realize that was their daughter.

Brian Dennehy is not my type but he could be sexy onscreen like in this.

I loved Ford's haircut in this. He looked so sexy.

Scacchi's character was a tramp. I feel like she would have been a DLer as would Bedelia's.

[quote] I love Harrison Ford but his constant underplaying (Jamie Foxx does this when he’s in a Serious Drama) is too low energy.

I don't think HF is consciously "underplaying" anything. IMO, he's limited. Not capable of much more.

I remember a scene where a cop throws a piece of evidence into a river. (Evidence that would speak to Ford's character being guilty.) The cop was obviously a friend of Ford's character.

This was a good movie. Maybe I'll try to watch it again.

R51, I don’t think Greta’s character was a tramp.

Bear with me. Jim Thompson, who wrote The Grifters, once wrote of one of his female characters (in either The Grifters or another book; I forget which) that “She used everything she had.”

I think Greta’s character was a climber who had graduated law school, gotten into the prosecutor’s office, and intended to use “everything she had” to keep rising in her chosen field. Rusty Sabich didn’t understand her game and got unwisely besotted with her (a mistake almost always reserved for fraus and the Alex character in Fatal Attraction) and, seeing this, Greta is totally unmoved and says, “Grow up.” Because he can’t do anything more to further her professional ambitions.

And it’s possible that she didn’t consider him a good lay. In the book, she silently offers him her ass (iirc Turow refers to it as a “peach”), and Sabich, obeying a reflexive impulse of what the reader is expected to see as purity, doesn’t go for it.

A prissy little cheater who won’t give her a good lay, can’t advance her career, and is now all hung up on her?

She moved on!

Thank you, OP. I watched this again tonight. And I really enjoyed it. I forgot how fantastic Raul Julia was in this. I really miss Raul. He was definitely one of the best actors of the '80s and early '90s. When he comes into the film midway, he steals every scene he's in. He should have been nominated for Supporting Actor while Bedelia got Supporting Actress.

Did the wife character sexually assault, as well as kill the Scacchi character in the book? I read the synopsis, but it did not give too many details away. Something about it being set up to look like B&D action that went wrong, as well as non-active sperm that was injected into the character.

Great character summation r54!

Yeah, it’s key that the Scacchi character strayed off as a (corrupt?) parole officer, worked her way though law school and banged not only cute, young Harrison Ford (understandable, age appropriate) but Brian Dennehy (kind of understandable, age inappropriate).

Harrison Ford is funny as Han Solo and in some minor stuff like Hollywood Homocide.

The Bonnie Bedelia character is great. Can’t finish her thesis because she’s depressed and stays home masturbating.

I wonder why Greta Scacchi was twice refused British citizenship.

R50 I think I read years ago that Martha Stewart had a thing with him...there is definite something very hot about him

Could someone please explain the subplot with the judge (Paul Winfield) and how he is taking bribes. There is the scene of Ford and cop friend visiting Leon. The way the actor portrayed Leon it seemed like it was traumatic experience with the judge. Did the judge molest him too? And did Raul Julia’s character really pay off the judge?

The movie has a plot hole in that they never explain how Julia's character knows about the bribes.

Here I go down the rabbit hole again, this place has got me watching more stuff. I haven't watched it since it first came out, now going to watch it again.

Hear, hear r64. I watched this two years ago during the initial lockdown. I hadn't seen it since 1990 - so 30 years. I watched it again last night because of this thread and it still holds up.

R11, John Spencer was ALSO a big ol' queen. Didn't affect his career.

r64 here again, I rewatched it and it still holds up today. The only thing that is outdated is the old computer. But I still think it's a good movie.

R67 There is a line where a guy says "I told you I don't understand this computer shit!!!!"

Still accurate to Boomers today.

r68 I laughed at that too

Bradley Whitford specialised in these harried, white collar, demi-asshole roles before The West Wing: Philadelphia, The Scent Of A Woman, The Client.

r70 also the jerk boyfriend in Adventures in Babysitting. He had a whiny voice too

Also Fake Red John in "The Mentalist."

Anyone read or see the sequel Innocent? (The film version was a TV movie where Bill Pullman replaced Harrison Ford.) Both book and film were lesser quality, with a much more outlandish story.

[quote] nd did Raul Julia’s character really pay off the judge?

Yes, Papi Raul fed Paul his huge chorizo for a month in payment.

I miss expensive looking films. Even if the story is great, movies look so cheap nowadays.

Who wound up being the real Red John in The Mentalist? Was it Xander Berkeley?

Jakey is in negotiations to star in the Apple+ TV series.

He looks so much better now than he has in years.

Oh that’s good casting

[quote] Bedelia’s character was a perfect argument for having a long engagement. That obsessive putting herself down accompanied by the sideways glances, the indirect remarks, and the little giggles. I have’t rewatched the movie or re-read the book in a couple years and still in my memory she REEKED of deep personal problems every time she was on the screen.

Ain’t that the damn truth!

All those traits you listed make my skin crawl in co-workers. And adding to her depression into the mix …

Bump

[quote][R11], John Spencer was ALSO a big ol' queen. Didn't affect his career.

I don't know if you're still around, r66, but I wasn't aware that John Spencer's sexuality was well-known. He was quite open in his private life and with colleagues, but I never heard anything publicly.

He also wasn't a "big ol' queen". Gay, definitely - but not at all flamboyant.

He was also really nice. A gentleman, and an excellent actor.

I've never seen this film. I'll look for it.