High Crimes
High Crimes | |
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Directed by | Carl Franklin |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | High Crimes by Joseph Finder |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $42 million[1] |
Box office | $63.8 million[1] |
High Crimes is a 2002 American legal thriller film directed by Carl Franklin and starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman, reunited from the 1997 film Kiss the Girls. The plot follows the successful criminal defense lawyer whose husband is arrested and accused of being the source of a shooting that killed nine people in El Salvador in 1990. An investigation reveals her husband was then a member of the United States Marine Corps, operating under a different name. The stakes are high as her client faces up to a life sentence for murder. The screenplay by Yuri Zeltser and Grace Cary Bickley is based on Joseph Finder's 1998 novel of the same name.
Plot
Tom admits that he was at the scene of the mass murders but he vehemently insists that he had absolutely no role in the gruesome killings. His protests allude to the fact that he has been implicated in the crime to act as a
The Salvadorian witness identifies an injured Hernandez as the culprit responsible for a bombing incident prior to the massacre. Claire recovers classified medical files from the FBI as evidence of the cover-up. Claire blackmails Marks by threatening to reveal what she knows about the cover-up and asks him to make the case go away; the next day, the U.S. Defense Department has the case thrown out of court due to "national security reasons".
Just as Claire is about to celebrate her victory in court, Charlie discovers the truth: Tom had murdered one of the witnesses in front of his family. The widow who witnessed the act described Tom's having tossed his gun from one hand to the other (a habit Tom displayed with keys and other objects throughout the film) and his shooting his gun first using one hand, then the other (revealing his ambidexterity). The match between these descriptions also indicated that Tom committed the massacre and also murdered two of the other key witnesses years prior to his arrest. After Tom overhears Claire talking to Charlie on the phone, a short scuffle between Claire and Tom ensues, during which Claire fears for her life. The Salvadorian witness shoots Tom through the window, and the film ends with Charlie and Claire partnering a new law firm.
Cast
- Ashley Judd as Claire Kubik
- Morgan Freeman as Charlie Grimes
- Jim Caviezel as Tom Kubik/Ron Chapman
- Adam Scott as First Lieutenant Terence Embry
- Amanda Peet as Jackie Grimaldi
- Bruce Davison as Brigadier General Bill Marks
- Juan Carlos Hernández as Major James Hernandez
- Michael Gaston as Major Lucas Waldron
- Tom Bower as Special Agent Mullins
- Jude Ciccolella as Colonel Farrell
- Emilio Rivera as Salvadoran Man
- Michael Shannon as Troy Abbott
- Dendrie Taylor as Lola
- Paula Jai Parker as Gracie
- Dawn Hudson as Lieutenant Colonel LaPierre
- Julie Remala as Lisa Stenstrom
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes reported a "rotten" 31% rating, based on 133 reviews,[2] while Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.[3]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film three out of four stars and commented, "I do like the way director Carl Franklin and writers Yuri Zeltser and Cary Bickley . . . play both ends against the middle, so that the audience has abundant evidence to believe two completely conflicting theories of what actually happened . . . High Crimes works to keep us involved and make us care . . . The unfolding of various versions of the long-ago massacre is handled by Franklin in flashbacks that show how one camera angle can refute what another angle seems to prove. And if we feel, toward the end, a little whiplashed by the plot manipulations, well, that's what the movie promises and that's what the movie delivers."[5]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film "has some faults, but it manages to keep its audience either angry or jumpy from start to finish . . . The dramatic focus of High Crimes gets a bit fuzzy in the last half hour - it starts to feel as if some scenes get replayed. Still, the scenes are never dull, and the movie recovers for the big finish. Only one thing is lacking throughout, not a big thing, but big enough to mention. We keep hearing about what great lawyers Claire and Grimes are, but there's no great courtroom scene. In that, High Crimes is too much like real life. It gives us court with no courtroom fireworks."[6]
Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post said the film "satisfies a hunger for the basics: a decent mystery to chew on, a bit of juicy suspense, maybe a plot twist as garnish. The fare is all on the standard menu, but it goes down well just the same. Chalk that up to a cast the director can trust enough to step out of the way and let do their jobs . . . And yes, there's a twist ending, but don't kid yourself that you won't see it coming. Surprising? Maybe not. Satisfying? Not half as much as watching Freeman and Judd, two compelling performers who seem to enjoy each other's company almost as much as we do."[7]
Robert Koehler of Variety called the film "utterly conventional" and Ashley Judd's performance "so resolutely humorless and businesslike that Freeman's gruffly affectionate warmth becomes doubly valuable, though not nearly enough to lend this generic project any special character. Most disillusioning is how director Carl Franklin, once known for tense storytelling and unpredictable characters, goes about his task here with a visible lack of inspiration . . . The screenwriting team of Yuri Zeltser and Cary Bickley has tweaked Joseph Finder's novel considerably . . . Character alterations, refinements, re-locations and plot substitutions produce a rabbit's warren full of holes in an almost laughably complex plot. By the time the third act exhaustedly appears, it's hardly a wonder that some major characters have no idea where other major characters are, or what they're doing."[8]
Awards and nominations
Morgan Freeman was nominated for the
Home media
High Crimes is also available on
References
- ^ a b "BoxOfficeMojo.com". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes.com". Archived from the original on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ "Metacritic.com". Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- Scott, A.O. (April 5, 2002). "The Case of the Accused Husband". The New York Times. New York City. Archivedfrom the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (April 5, 2002). "High Crimes". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- Hearst Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- ^ Washington Post review[dead link]
- ^ Koehler, Robert (April 4, 2002). "High Crimes". Variety. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
External links
- High Crimes at IMDb