True Believer (1989)

Synopsis
The only True Believer at the beginning of this drama is idealistic young attorney Robert Downey Jr., who apprentices under the guidance of celebrated civil-rights activist James Woods. Alas, in the years since the sixties, Woods has become a disillusioned, dope-smoking ambulance chaser. Goaded by Downey, Woods takes up one last "lost cause:" that of Korean-American prison inmate Yuji Okomoto, who is about to be tried for the self-defense slaying of another prisoner. As Woods investigates, he unearths several iniquities in the trial that sent Okomoto to prison. Despite the fact that the one witness who might clear Okomoto is an unhinged conspiracy theorist, Woods endeavors to re-open Okomoto's case--which plays right into the hands of sharkish, politically ambitious DA Kurtwood Smith. Chock full of plot twists and last-minute shockers, True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off TV series, Eddie Dodd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide