Presumed Innocent

Based on the Scott Turow novel of the same name, Presumed Innocent was a bit of a novelty when it was released in 1990.  It is a legal drama that was released mid-summer, amongst all the explosions and blockbusters in movies like Total Recall, Robocop 2, Die Hard 2, and Another 48 Hours.  To say that summer was a little light on intelligent movies is an understatement.  Nevertheless, this quiet drama held its own and became a hit in its own right.  This is also one of the biggest movies at the time to take an interest in forensic science; while I think we have all been CSI-ed to death by now, it was a pretty risky move at the time.  Out of the context of an unusually testosterone-fueled summer and after forensic knowledge has become somewhat commonplace, though, can Presumed Innocent stand the test of time?

Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), a county prosecutor, has been raped and murdered.  Her boss, Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy), is in the midst of the fight of his professional career as he tries to hold his position through the upcoming election; Horgan can't allow the murder of one of his people go unsolved and still win the election.  Knowing this, Horgan puts his best man, Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) on the case.  Rusty reluctantly takes it.  He had a secret affair with Carolyn that ended only a few months earlier; he's made it up to his wife, Barbara (Bonnie Bedelia), since then, but she's not too happy with Carolyn being on her husband's mind, dead or not.  As the evidence trickles in, it becomes apparent that the state should have a pretty good case against whoever they accuse --- they have semen in the victim and a glass with fingerprints found at the scene of the crime --- but the crime scene has an unnatural, staged feel to it.  The police become convinced that the perpetrator must have some knowledge of crime scene investigations and did their best to cover their tracks.  Who would have such knowledge?  A police officer, a private detective, or a prosecutor that had a romantic relationship with the victim, perhaps?

What makes Presumed Innocent work is its approach.  Many times, legal dramas take disinterested main characters and have them defend someone against a case that is overwhelmingly against them; surprise, surprise, they tend to beat the rap and every third of fourth one of these movies reveals that the defendant was actually a bad person.  This movie skips the intermediate character, and that makes it a lot more interesting.  You don't know whether or not Rusty Sabich has committed the murder in question, so seeing him assemble a defense makes the situation much more immediate.  This isn't a moral tale, either, so Rusty's guilt is almost beside the point.  This is a movie where circumstantial evidence damned a man and how he fought back against that very frightening situation.  After all, is there anything more frightening (in the legal system) than being found guilty of something you didn't do?

Harrison Ford turns in a typically understated and accomplished performance in the lead role.  Since his character must be believable as either an innocent or guilty man, he had the difficult task of playing a character that must be likable, but not too likable.  When in doubt, Ford tries to sound tired, and it's effective.  The rest of the cast was suitable for this drama, but I wouldn't say that any of their performances were particularly noteworthy.  Brian Dennehy comes across as a total bastard in the courtroom, but aside from that, the main supporting cast members (Raul Julia and Bonnie Bedelia) are solid, if unimpressive.  The movie also has a number of recognizable actors in small supporting roles.  Veteran actors Paul Winfield, John Spencer, and Joe Grifasi all take on simple roles of law and order.  There are also two child actors of note in the film.  You might recognize the abused child in the film, Joseph Mazzello, as the annoying kid from Jurassic Park.  Here, you get to hear Harrison Ford slowly repeat the phrase "Mommy hurt my head" several times in reference to him.  Jesse Bradford plays Rusty's son and, for some unfathomable reason, has pennant for both the Packers and Vikings up on his bedroom walls; as a Bears fan, I began hoping Rusty was guilty after I noticed that. 

That was, like, months ago.  Live in the now, jerks.

I liked Alan J. Pakula's work as the director and co-writer of the screenplay.  He kept the technical jargon to a bare minimum, making this a story that was less about the facts as it was the perception of them.  That was a good choice, especially at the time, because scientific terminology can cause a serious case of audience eye-glazing.  I thought he handled the actors well; there is no furniture-biting courtroom scene, the legal addresses were not overly dramatic --- this is a drama that feels surprisingly realistic.  The story requires a few sex scenes, which Pakula provides, but they're not terribly explicit, which also keeps the focus on the drama.

If Presumed Innocent was a ship, it would have nothing but smooth sailing.  That can be good, or that can be boring.  While this is a pretty effective drama, it is one that very quiet and realistic (read: a little dull).  There are no standout characters, the dialogue isn't very memorable, and the camerawork is conventional.  This is a well-made movie, but it depends on you being fascinated by the story.  If, like me, you are able to quickly deduce the basics of the crime, the film loses some of its luster.  I'm not blaming the film for that; as time has passed, the average American has gained familiarity with this sort of evidence and the ways it can be manipulated.  I can appreciate the movie as being pretty good in a number of different ways, but when all is said and done, police procedurals have dulled the effect of this story, making it feel older than a drama this well-made should.

Gorky Park

When I find out that a film is set in Russia, especially Soviet Russia, I can immediately make a few assumptions.  First, it is not a comedy.  I know, I know...Soviet Russia was famous for their comedy, but all their jokes end with punching Yakov Smirnoff in the face.  You can't make more than (maybe) one movie like that, so any film set in Soviet Russia is going to be a drama.

Even his fist wants to hit him.

My second assumption is that the story will involve secrecy and deception.  That's just how it is.  When you're in a country that monitors its own people, Big Brother-style, that's going to play a part in the movie.  I had never heard of Gorky Park before watching it, but it has an okay cast for the period and didn't sound like a propaganda piece, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Moscow police officer Arkady Renko (William Hurt) is called to a crime scene in Gorky Park, which is kind of like Moscow's Central Park (I think...there's ice skating, anyway).  Three murder victims have been found, all shot dead in the chest and mouth, and all three are missing their faces and fingers.  That fits the description of KGB-type killings, where they just make people disappear; Renko knows this and assumes that the KGB will take the investigation away from him at the first opportunity, to "investigate" it themselves.  The KGB does show up with suspicious immediacy, but they let Renko keep the case for some reason.

With shattered teeth and no fingerprints, Renko enlists the aid of a professor (Emperor Palpatine Ian McDiarmid) to reconstruct their faces.  While he's waiting for the prof to slowly finish his work, Renko does his best to investigate the case.  He really doesn't want to, because he knows damn well that if he implicates the KGB in a murder, he will likely end up without fingers or a face, too.  His Chief Inspector (Ian Bannen) won't take him off the case, though; in fact, he promises to protect Renko's back, no matter what he finds.  While that is probably meant to be reassuring, it raises the hairs on the back of Renko's neck.  William Hurt may not have been in Lost in Space for another fifteen years, but he clearly heard the "Danger Will Robinson!" warning.

In the due course of his investigation, Renko meets an American detective (Brian Dennehy), who is in town to investigate his brother's recent disappearance.  The two warily agree to share some knowledge, which leads Renko to a tentative ID on the victims, which leads him to a beautiful Russian woman (Joanna Pacula) and an American sable fur importer (Lee Marvin).  The deeper Renko digs, the more he finds out about people in high places.  And in Soviet Russia, knowing too much about important people is hazardous to your health.  Maybe it's because he is devoted to his job, or maybe it's because he's falling in love with the girl, but Renko puts it all on the line to solve the case.  All he needs to get all the pieces to fall into place are some identities for his victims, so he can figure out why they were killed...

"Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational reconstructed face!"

This is a police procedural, so the acting is somewhat limited.  Just as we don't ooh and ahh over Sam Waterston or Marg Helgenberger as actors, there's nothing to see here, people, move along.  William Hurt is fairly reserved and emotionally detached for most of the film.  And that's appropriate for his character, really.  Brian Dennehy turns in yet another performance where he is in a position of power, despite having obviously poor decision making skills.  This is a fairly subdued performance from Dennehy, so he's fairly likable.  Michael Elphick plays the none-too-bright partner to Renko, and he's about as good as the role requires.  Lee Marvin probably does the least acting out of anyone in the cast; he basically just croaks out his lines and you instinctively know that he's up to no good.  I like Lee Marvin, and his presence here is welcome, but this wasn't much of a stretch for his talents.  The only actor who actually emoted much in this film was Joanna Pacula, and she does a pretty good job portraying someone who distrusts authority (with good reason), but needs to go against her instincts to survive.  The rest of the supporting cast (including a brief appearance by Richard Griffiths) is fine, with most everyone playing their roles simply and efficiently.  But that's just my Western attitude imposing value on Russian acting.  After all, in America, actors play roles; in Soviet Russia, roles play you.  Wait...what?

James Horner's score is worth mentioning.  I'm no music major (my mother assumes from my childhood singing that I am tone deaf), but Horner did a great job amplifying the "something's wrong" feeling of the film.  He used pretty standard musical score instruments, like strings, horns and percussion, but they were all discordant.  It was an interesting way to supplement the story.

Michael Apted directed Gorky Park with what would have seemed like efficiency, if the film had been less than two hours.  His focus was on the story, for the most part, and the story was told well enough.  I appreciate his choice to not have the actors assume Russian accents (not everyone can pull off a Russian accent like Harrison Ford), although it makes the scene where Brian Dennehy is identified as an American by his voice seem a little silly.  I wish Apted had put a little more flair into this movie, though.  Procedurals are, by their nature, pretty cut-and-dry.  This didn't feel like a mystery or a conspiracy, but like an especially long episode of Law and Order: Moscow.  If Apted had played with the camera a little more, used some symbolism, or used some interesting establishing shots of Moscow every so often, this movie might feel like it is more than a police procedural.

Maybe that is my problem.  I have seen so many police procedurals on American television that a film version just seems like overkill.  The case doesn't seem that complicated when you watch it, and there is absolutely no question that Lee Marvin is a bad guy, so it's not like viewers are going to be surprised much by the story.  Of course, the film is spiced up a little bit by having the eternally middle-aged William Hurt have a relationship with a Russian beauty, but even that is predictable.  Of course the cop is going to fall for the beautiful witness, and of course the Russian woman in an American movie is going to be gorgeous, because all Russian women in American movies are gorgeous.  It's not like that in real life, though; all those years of putting vodka in their cereal catches up with them eventually.

Russian beauty, age 31

But I digress.  This movie is made pretty well, and it certainly fits within the boundaries of your standard police procedural.  In doing so, however, it bored me.  The story was too predictable and the format was too familiar to me.  It's not a bad film, but I can see more concise versions of it on any Law and Order rerun.

And, because we all know that the Russians aren't funny, here are some jokes about Russia made by President Reagan.

Foul Play

Foul Play stars Goldie Hawn with a supporting cast that includes Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Dudley Moore, and Brian Dennehy, and it was directed by Colin (Harold and Maude) Higgins.  I had never heard of the film, so I gave it a shot.  Now I know why I had never heard of it.

This 1978 movie was clearly designed as a starring vehicle for Hawn, who was still two years away from making Private Benjamin and almost ten years away from Overboard.  This was Chevy Chase's first major film role, and it's definitely a supporting one.  Brian Dennehy's career was mainly in detective TV episodes at this point.  Dudley Moore hadn't even made 10 yet, THAT'S how old this movie is.  So, the cast was just on the cusp of respectability and stardom, which could have made this a diamond in the rough, right?

Well, it could have been.  Here's the plot: Goldie Hawn accidentally gets involved with a plot to assassinate the Pope, and Officer Chevy Chase helps her try to prevent it.  That doesn't sound too bad, right?  Well, it's a slapstick comedy.  And a thriller.  And a romantic comedy.  I know what you're thinking: "Trying to kill the Pope?  That's bound to be comic gold!"  No?  Hmm...that's okay, though; if the premise doesn't get you ready for belly laughs, they threw in a dwarf, a killer albino, Japanese tourists, loneliness, the notion of rape, and Dudley Moore.  And yet, somehow, inexplicably, it never really gels together.

The performances are fine.  Hawn does her "Ooh!  I'm surprised!" look well, but her dialogue doesn't really give her much to work with.  She's treated like a prop in the film; she doesn't really act so much as she is acted upon by the other characters.  Chevy Chase is his normal back-when-he-was-funny self, and it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote or ad-libbed a good deal of his dialogue.  I'm not saying he was especially convincing as a police officer, but he was funny.  Dudley Moore was okay, I guess, as an especially horny Brit, but the best part of his scenes were the props in his bedroom.  Most of them are played up for laughs, but he had a fur-lined piano that wasn't a piano, but a fold-out bar...and that is just plain awesome.  Seriously, I would love a piano covered in faux tiger fur that opened into a wet bar.  Burgess Meredith was apparently never under the age of 75; here, he plays a snake-loving, former black belt landlord.  The fact that he has a lengthy karate fight with a woman gives you an idea of how this movie turned out.

There are two fairly random plot elements that are played for laughs, as well.  First, Goldie Hawn's best friend keeps warning her about getting raped.  Hilarious!  The second is a pair of Japanese tourists who accidentally end up in a one vehicle car chase; they're really scared until Hawn explains that Chevy Chase is a cop, like Kojack.  Apparently, Japanese tourists in the 70's loved Kojack.  File that factoid away for future use.

Despite all this, the movie never really comes together.  It's not bad, mind you, but it is odd.  The thriller scenes are treated like they are in a thriller movie.  The romantic comedy scenes are shot like they are for a romantic comedy.  And the slapstick scenes glue everything else together.  Probably not the choice I would have made for glue, but nobody asked me.  All in all, good supporting performances overcome a weak story and weaker genre mish-mash.  In fact, I would go so far as to call this movie competent.  Plus, it gets an extra star for the Japanese tourists and the piano bar.