After Leatherheads on New Year's Day (and short of promising football to watch), I culled my parents' movie collection and found Presumed Innocent, which I have never managed to see and yet always wanted to see. I remember when Harrison Ford was considered the actor to be the top box office draw--I wonder what happened there--and I also remember this film being talked about enough to be interested in it, even though I was barely a teenager at the time of its release. Recalling this, I popped it into the DVD player.
Ford plays an assistant prosecutor named Rusty Sabich who, when the film begins, seems to live a quiet, even boring suburban life with his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and son. His boss (Brian Dennehy) is overbearing but also his mentor, and when he arrives to work, Rusty learns from his boss that another assistant prosecutor, Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), has been murdered at her home. Since he's up for reelection, the chief prosecutor character (whose name I can't remember) wants Rusty to handle the investigation personally, quickly, and quietly, and Rusty reluctantly agrees amid protestation, since he'd formerly been having an affair with Carolyn. As the movie progresses, the viewer learns that he still seems to be into her, though she broke off the tryst when she realized it would not get her any closer to being chief prosecutor herself. As Rusty progresses through his investigation, clues begin to surface that point to him, such as fingerprints on a glass and semen that matches his blood type (in what looks like a rape prior to death); the chief prosecutor's election opponent and his lackey soon latch onto that theory for the political gain and force Rusty into a situation in which he is charged with Carolyn's murder. Rusty then hires his biggest opponent (Raul Julia) to defend him, as the odds mount against him.
I can't remember if this was the film, but I remember one of Harrison's late 80s/early 90s entries being described as "dense and confusing," and for some reason, I see that description attached to this film. I don't think this description is accurate, so I may be confusing my memories just a tad. Presumed Innocent is neither dense nor confusing. It's actually a very good mystery/thriller with a hummer of a twist that most viewers probably wouldn't see coming because the story is told so completely and with just such a slant that reasonable doubt plagues the mind until the conclusion of the film. Because of the impact of the twist, I refuse to spoil anything. I can only say that this is a finely told story, with a complete and satisfying series of events given full dimension and closure, and a very good movie all told.
Yet, I had some complaints, as there were some minor though noticeable flaws. I think the performances were very good in this film, particularly by Bedelia and by Julia as supporting players who showed ranges of emotion without betraying motives or secrets they might harbor--and, for the record, the poignant theme of this film is that no character is exempt from moral degradation. Even the most upstanding character has a dark side or set of impulses that can't exactly be considered on the up and up or explained, except in the quest for personal gain. The character I had the most trouble latching onto, however, was Ford's. I love Harrison Ford, I think he is a very good actor, but in this movie, he had to walk a fine line between bland, by-the-book attorney and someone deeply repressed and motivated to have a passionate and adulterous affair that bordered on obsession, as the movie implies. He's the central figure, the heart of the mystery, and morally ambiguous, and yet his performance felt a little two-dimensional, a little flat, almost as if he was bored by the whole thing and at least until his character started to face real consequences. Even then, he played the character almost like a robot, except one scene in which he breaks down in tears at the thought of Carolyn being dead as his wife looks on with confusion and unsettled disappointment, and that scene felt a little forced. I'm not sure if these techniques were meant to inspire the viewer to question and re-question, but it actually served to alienate me from Rusty slightly and his story until the trial portion of the film.
The other major problem I had was in the editing. When the movie opens, it's evident that the filmmakers were filming in and around Detroit. and also from the Canadian side in Windsor, Ontario, for the Renaissance Center was in one of the opening frames. Later on, they were in Brian Dennehy's office, possibly after he loses his election bid (it doesn't hurt anything to offer that little detail), and the sky-level view of city behind his widely windowed new office is clearly the Lake Michigan shoreline in Chicago, which is easily recognizable if you've ever been up in the Sears Tower. I was told I'm not supposed to notice these things, but I did because I'm from the Midwest, and it was distracting.
Also, the pacing of this movie was a little slow and lagging, particularly in the middle third. I think that largely has to do with how the chronology of events is presented, however, so I'm not sure if that rests in the screenwriting or the direction by Alan J. Pakula (or both), but it took some time for me to connect to the film because I tangibly felt the pace of the movie. To its credit, however, the details are so interesting, and the mystery so engaging, that the slow pace doesn't bother me, especially since the carefully laid puzzle pieces start to rapidly slide into place in the back half of the movie.
Overall, I consider these minor flaws because the end result is good enough to leave me feeling satisfied by the film and the story told, and that's all I can hope for in a movie. I think it deserves an 8 for having minor flaws but being very good, but as to the test, I don't know if it passes. I would have to watch it again; this might be one of those films that warrants a second viewing, to see if there were any foreshadowing clues that gave away the ending even when the viewer did not see it coming the first time, and to see if the impact from the twist holds up even a little when the viewer knows it is coming. Presumed Innocent, though, definitely deserves a first viewing because, really, the strength of this film is the story. So, if you like a good yarn, and you don't mind visiting films that are almost two decades old, I recommend Presumed Innocent.