The Accused

Plot synopsis:
The Accused (1988)The controversial rape-themed drama The Accused opens with an exterior shot of a bar, The Mill, located somewhere along the highways of Washington. Ominous music plays as the sky turns to black. A young man named Kenneth Joyce (Bernie Coulson) appears rushing outside of the bar. Before long, the wailing screams of young Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster) are heard as she makes her way out of the bar. Apparently, she has suffered a prolonged gang rape at the hands of three men in a crowded room. Kenneth informs of this to the police as Sarah becomes rescued on the highway.At the hospital, she meets up with several professionals, including Carol Hunnicutt (Linda Darlow) from the Rape Crisis Center, whilst being examined by doctors. It is learned that Sarah was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Finally, she meets Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis), her Deputy District Attorney and Lieutenant Duncan (Terry David Mulligan), who's in charge of the police investigation.With the bar still open, Sarah manages to point out two of her assailants to the police. There is Kurt (Kim Kondrashoff), a formidable presence wearing a yellow t-shirt, and local man Danny (Woody Brown).Kathryn drives Sarah home. She lives in a trailer home with her live-in boyfriend, drug dealer and would-be musician Larry (Tom O'Brien). She also has a dog named Sadie (named after The Beatles song "Sexy Sadie").After the police arrest the third suspect, a fraternity man named Bob Joiner (Steve Antin), the three rapists are released to their community on $10,000.00 bail. It turns out, Bob is a best friend of the much-chagrined Kenneth. Sarah, a waitress, hears of the news. At home, she is visited by Kathryn. Kathryn is unimpressed by Sarah's behavior as she had dressed provocatively that night at the bar and was also drinking heavily and showing a lot of cleavage. It is further revealed that Sarah had a record for drug possession. Denying this, Sarah demands that justice be done to her attackers.Kathryn goes on to interview some of the witnesses or onlookers to the scene. These include Sarah's best friend Sally Fraser (Ann Hearn), who was waitressing at The Mill the night Sarah was assaulted. They find Polito (Stephen E. Miller), a bar patron who saw what happened but proves useless for having been drunk and on probation during the events that night. After Kathryn makes a deal with the rapists' lawyers, the three men are sentenced to reckless endangerment (2 ½-5 years in prison).In a fit of rage, the betrayed Sarah storms in Kathryn's dinner party and confronts Kathryn over the relatively light sentences imposed on her attackers. It is believed Sarah would not have made a strong witness to the state. However, she goes on to emphasize the seriousness of the matter. While she was being gang-raped on a pinball machine, a crowd of men were "yelling and clapping".Back at home, Sarah cuts her hair. In the livingroom, Larry tries to seduce her, but she refuses. Enraged by Larry's lack of empathy and understanding of the potentially damaging, psychological or otherwise, effects rape has on her, Sarah orders Larry to leave her house permanently.The next day begins as Sarah unwittingly finds herself in a record store with Cliff 'Scorpion' Albrect (Leo Rossi), who taunts her with macho advances before revealing himself as one of the spectators to the rape. She tries to escape from the parking lot, but he obstructs her with his truck and harasses her. "You wanna play pinball?", he laughs. In a state of madness, Sarah decides to retaliate by ramming his truck. Before she could finish the job, she and Cliff both end up in the hospital with minor head injuries.Feeling guilt-ridden over not having offered Sarah a choice of testifying before agreeing to the deal, Kathryn is determined to prosecute the spectators for criminal solicitation. Thus, the rape would go on record and the rapists will stay in jail for the full 5 years. But her colleagues, especially D.A. Paul Rudolph (Carmen Argenziano), feel she has lost her mind and offer her little support. However, she receives much help along the way from Sarah and Sally, who identifies the three spectators in a lineup. They are Matthew Haines (Andrew Kavadas), Stu Holloway (Tom McBeath), and the aforementioned Cliff 'Scorpion' Albrect.Meanwhile, both Sarah and Sally meet up with Kathryn at her office. Sally is interviewed by Kathryn. It's discovered that Sarah had flirted heavily with Bob, one of the rapists, perhaps in an effort to get back at her cheating boyfriend. Hearing this, Kathryn decides it's best that Sally doesn't testify on Sarah's behalf. A thwarted Sarah leaves Kathryn's office.Fortunately enough, Kathryn eventually finds Kenneth at a university. Kenneth is reluctant to testify. Though not denying the behavior of the rapists, including his best friend, he maintains that the spectators weren't to blame. "It was like a show. They watched. Big deal", says Kenneth. He finally agrees to testify after Kathryn plays his recorded message.At the courthouse, Sarah gives a highly detailed, lengthy account of the night of the rape at The Mill. However, she is unable to ascertain who "applauded or shouted" or to prove that anyone in the bar really saw her struggling. The witness is excused.After visiting his friend Bob, Kenneth enters the courthouse. Though aware of the consequences facing Bob, Kenneth recounts what happened that night in a scene structured in flashbacks. In the flashback sequence, the sexily-dressed Sarah enters The Mill. She catches the eye of Danny and Bob, who's seated with Kenneth. Danny meets Sarah, and then accompanies her to the game room. They both play pinball with Bob and pretty soon find themselves dancing to the music playing on the jukebox. Danny embraces her "tight close". At this point, she tries to fight him off as he's coming on a bit strongly. Totally relentless, Danny throws her on top of the pinball machine and forces himself on her. In the process, Kurt has her arms pinned down and the near-sadistic spectators begin chanting "make her moan" and "stick it to her". Bob proceeds to rape her, followed by Kurt. As Kurt rapes her, the spectators repeatedly chant "One...two...three...four. Poke that pussy 'til it's sore". The scene ends with both Kenneth and Sarah storming out of the bar in disgust.Much debate is made on the charges laid against the spectators. As Attorney Paulsen (Peter Van Norden) points out, Sarah has been unable to acknowledge the spectators' responsibility. He firmly believes Kenneth is guilty for having watched a rape without taking action. "He was offered a way to purge that guilt, and he took it". Kathryn argues against this. As she states, "It is not the crime of criminal solicitation to silently watch a rape. But it is the crime of criminal solicitation to command, induce, entreat or otherwise persuade another person to commit a rape".In the film's final scenes, Kathryn wins the case, with special thanks to Sarah and Kenneth. All three defendents are found guilty of criminal solicitation. Sarah goes home to celebrate with her dog, Sadie.

Tags: revenge, violence, flashback

Review:
It has the rare gift of touching the viewer viscerally for the entire duration -- discomfort being the feeling.This isn't virtuoso film-making like "The Godfather", but at the same time I can think of no greater compliment for a movie than it truly opened my eyes to a new perspective that I was not mature enough to grasp on my own.
Several of Jodie Foster's scenes were so powerful they nearly brought me to tears -- specifically, the scene where she confronts lawyer Kelly McGillis in the latter's apartment during a dinner party; her courtroom testimony; and the horrifying rape scene.Kelly McGillis seemed to be sleepwalking through this entire film, with only a few moments when she roused herself a bit, but not enough to help.
NO one Woman or man) deserves to be raped, violated or harmed just because they were at the wrong place.This movie is based on a true story, and the actors were very moving.
NO one Woman or man) deserves to be raped, violated or harmed just because they were at the wrong place.This movie is based on a true story, and the actors were very moving.
Perfectly knowing that a lot of people would get inspired, personally relate or cite examples from this film, there is no reason to deny that except for the rape victim Sarah Tobias, all the other main characters, even attorney Kathryn Murphy, are written blatantly as stereotypical as they can be.
The screenwriters have played only one masterstroke by showing the whole rape incident much later in a flashback, which perhaps helps us to relate better to the victim's emotions.However predictable and blunt the film appears in its formation, it delivers it message right with the help of the outstanding (and Oscar-winning) performance of Jodie Foster.
The shocking true story of a bar room gang rape is lifted from the headlines to become, with dramatic license, a serious and troubling study of sexism at its worst, when the victim herself is accused of 'asking for it'.
Jodie Foster offers a courageous performance as the tough but vulnerable Sarah Tobias, whose behavior on the night of the crime was certainly provocative, but as the flashback re-enactment shows all too clearly no amount of provocation could justify such a brutal response.
The same year Jodie Foster got an Oscar for "The Accused" Meryl Streep was nominated for "A Cry In The Dark" Both films climax in a court room.
Jodie Foster's performance is good and the gang rape scene at the end of the film is horrific, but the whole movie has the unfortunate feel of a made-for-TV movie.
Along with no story and no sex."Actually, I don't feel the movie was THAT uneventful (I just wanted to squeeze in the Pulp reference, to tell you the truth.) But the difficult subject matter is rendered tame with a boring court case and lots of "You can't win this trial!" dialogue between Kelly McGillis and her bosses.
Film claims high ideals and explores the right of a woman to decline sexual advances at any stage, despite giving out signals of encouragement to dumb-ass males.'The Accused' has been highly praised because of its head-on tackling of its subject matter, but the film is crude and clumsy with Foster (as the victim) and McGillis (as her attorney) no better than adequate in stereotyped roles.
After a young woman (Jodie Foster) suffers a brutal rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor (Kelly McGillis) assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.First of all, is this Foster's worst haircut ever?
Jodie Foster plays Sarah Tobias, a small-town waitress with a bad reputation(and drug user) who is brutally attacked by three men in a bar, who were also being cheered on by some of the onlookers.
Sarah is determined to convince the District Attorney on the case(Kelly McGillis) to bring it to trial, not just the three attackers, but the onlookers as well.Powerful film is supremely well acted by Jodie Foster(Academy Award Winner)Film runs the risk of being crass exploitation, but is well directed, and again it is the sympathetic and defiant performance of Jodie as this wronged, violated woman that makes this film work as well as it does.Not for the faint-hearted..
(I am writing this from memory.) I do remember the scene as extremely uncomfortable to watch.In a nutshell, Jodie Foster plays a woman, "Sarah Tobias" who goes looking for trouble in a bar and gets much more than she bargained for, being gang-raped on top of a pinball machine.
Alcohol and sex desires are a lethal combination and a bar with a number of drunks is not where you want to start arousing people.Jodie Foster is a fine actress but I did question her winning an Oscar over this.
*IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION STARTS*I have to review the film as a total piece of fiction because the difference between the "inspirational" case and the one presented on celluloid are (bar the instance of unquestionable gang rape) so totally different.Big Dan's Bar - the now closed real crime scene - was a disreputable dive ignored by everyone but hard drinking immigrant types.
Naturally the film makes it own environment - but even in this it fails to prove its own case "beyond reasonable doubt."The Accused argues that on-lookers with no possible way of knowing a crime was about to be committed, and play no active part in it, are equally guilty by not lifting a finger to prevent it.Crudely we have two types of "do nothings" - people that encourage vocally and those that simply do nothing but look on.
Bode.After Sarah Tobias (Foster) suffers a brutal rape in a road side bar one night, prosecutor Kathryn Murphy (McGillis) takes up the case to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.Criminal Solicitation.Some have bemoaned The Accused as being a TV movie type production, while the thematic edge of Sarah Tobias being a "good time gal, even slutty", has caused consternation in highbrow circles.
Jodie Foster hits a home run in her Oscar-winning performance in this outstanding film.Foster epitomizes the low class girl,coming from a broken home and rapidly going nowhere at all in her totally dysfunctional life.When she is brutally gang raped at a bar, the onus is put on her.
Her miserable life, her dress, her drinking, her use of drugs shall all be used against her in a trial.She is angered when her attorney settles for a lower plea, but is up to the task when the former realized her mistake and will now prosecute those who provoked the brutal attack by their screaming and encouraging the participants.The rape scene is self is brutally staged but unfortunately that what was needed here.This hard-hitting drama reflects a tragic social issue of our times..
The only positive about her performance is that she is (slightly) better than the cartoon characters that populated the bar and the cardboard cutout of Kelly McGillis they wheeled from one scene to the next.This film had a solid story, an important message to tell and what appeared to be a good screenplay, but a large chunk of this got lost somewhere in the mess of meaningful expressions and shouty overacting.
With the big screen and sound pumped up like they do in a movie theatre it would probably have scared the bejesus out of me.Ms Jodie Foster gave a truly incredible performance as the victim in the film.
That was even scarier than a horror film!Jodie Foster deserves 10 Oscars for her believable and great acting and the way she just connects with her characters is amazing.
Jodie Foster is a woman who gets gang raped at a pinball machine at a bar in this based on a true story movie that won Oscars.
I'm very glad that Jodie Foster and Kelly McGilis really put this film out and thereby sending out a strong message to the world regarding the horrors and resulting complications (legal and otherwise) surrounding the tragedy and trauma of rape.
Dealing with the material in a very direct and brutally honest way, McGillis (a victim of an assault before - part of the reason why she took up this film) and Foster (who showcases her unbelievably powerful acting skills) shine some light on an otherwise unchartered and undiscussed area of not just women's rights, but human rights and the issues and possibilities behind some of the human race's ugliest sides.
The only time the viewer really sympathises with Sarah as PERSON and not as a VICTIM is when she starts acting (and looking) like a vulnerable, little girl -which is increasingly noticeable as the film develops from the car crash.
Whilst I agree that McGillis' acting was a little wooden, I think it is understandable considering she had been raped in real life not long before the Accused was filmed.
Foster deservedly won her first Best Actress Oscar for her powerful performance as the victim of a gang rape who has to face some harsh realities in the American judicial process as well as her own character assassination when her lawyer (McGillis equally effective) is determined to prosecute those who rooted on the assailants.
An intense drama based on a real life account of a foul-mouthed woman (Foster) who is brutally raped in a local bar by a group of men.
Yet Jodie Foster plays her role as a gang-raped woman so convincing, so real and so powerful that it's hard not to sympathize with her.The overall movie is excellent too.
Partially based on a true story, this film begins with a young woman named "Sarah Tobias" (Jodie Foster) running out of a nightclub onto a nearby road in an attempt to flag down a passing motorists to escape from the men who had just gang-raped her.
It's during this time that she is introduced to a woman by the name of "Kathryn Murphy" (Kelly McGillis) who works for the District Attorney's office there in Washington state and needs to know if there is enough evidence available for her to initiate a criminal trial against those who took part in the rape.
Be that as it may, from what I understand the rather graphic rape scene proved to be quite tramatic for some of the actors involved and for her performance Jodie Foster was awarded an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Going out to have a good time at a local Bar, The Mill, after a fight with her live in drug dealing boyfriend Larry, Tom O'Brian, 21 year old Sarah Tobias, Jodie Foster, ends up getting gang raped in the bar's game room on top of the "Slam Dunk" pinball machine.
It took an eye whiteness to the gang rape local boy, and good friend of one of the rapists, Ken Joyce, Bernie Coulson, to brake the case wide open: In both Sarah Tobias and Kathryn Murphy's favor.Shocking in not only the crime that was committed in the film but how the victim of the crime was made as if she was the guilty party in bringing up her lifestyle that was anything but perfect.
While everybody knows rape is a heinous crime, the message here is that no matter how provocatively a woman dresses or how flirtatious her behavior, "no" means "no." A valid point, but the film goes overboard in trying to drive this message home, making the victim a low-life floozy who was drunk and high when the crime occurred.
What shook me the most was not the frightening rape scene, but a monolouge by Jodie Fosters character, Sarah Tobias, towards the beginning of the film.
This movie was based on a true story about a milestone court case.Jodie Foster plays Sarah Tobias-a woman who is a heavy drinker and partier, sometimes drug user and overall, white trash.
Powerful Film Deserving Of The Oscars It Won. The Accused is a powerful film to be commended for taking a controversial subject and bringing it onto the screen.Jodie Foster performs her best role as Sarah Tobias who is gang-raped.
I would include this film on a top ten list of 'MUST SEE MOVIES.'One more thing, I notice one IMDB user commented that Jodie Foster should have played the prosecutor and Kelly McGillis should have played the victim.
I didn't think that Jodie Foster did a very good job, and I didn't really like this movie.
The crime committed was rape done by three different men in a small bar to one lady "Sarah Tobias" played by "Jodie Foster".
Jodie Foster is the victim of a brutal gang rape who feels sold out by the legal wheeling and dealing of her lawyer, Kelly McGillis.
Jodie Foster plays a woman who was raped by three men in a bar.
This kind of film is very rare in the year of 2007.No wonder Judy Foster won the Oscar, she acted like a real rape victim, very authentic.
A particularly effective scene is when Foster decides to take revenge on one of the men who encouraged the rape; you can feel what she's thinking.All in all, this is a movie that I recommend to everyone.
Jody really brings the emotion and the raw realness, I mean there is absolutely no doubt that her character was raped in the movie, her performance is so focused and it is absolutely heartbreaking, you will most definitely need to bring tissues if you decide to view this film.
As you watch the movie, look at the image of the woman on the pinball machine; look at the friend who turned away; the boyfriend who expects the victim to "get over it;" the lawyer who thinks it's OK to cut a deal that removes a rape charge in order to get the rapists behind bars, without thought for the life of the victim afterward.
A girl is gang raped by 3 men in a bar, where a crowd of male customers are shouting, clapping and cheering it on like it's a show.Jodie Foster plays Sarah Tobias, the girl who is raped.
Regardless, should this movie ever come up in conversation, my recommendation will be based entirely on those performances from Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis.7/10.
This movie was brilliantly acted, by Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, at least.
The victim here comes off as flirty and provocatively dressed and often times it makes it seem like they were "asking for it" and a girls character can really be hurt by that and this movie beautifully shows that no matter how you act, or dress, or even what you say has no justification on rape or doing something to someone when they tell you "no".
The movie had many good messages and it's an honest depiction of rape and how people try to classify it in different ways, when in reality rape is rape and there are no innocent sexual abuse or rape cases out there.I thought Jodie did an amazing job, as did Kelly McGillis as her attorney.
I think the thing I liked best was the victim's need to become a stronger woman after the events occurred, that really spoke to me, because it was almost like a passage into womanhood for her.I thought the movie was really good, it was honest and blunt and did well with telling the whole story without details and then at the end it had the courtroom drama, which I always love, and then the details come out and we here them from many peoples point of view.
The way the movie presents the action, it is clear that each of the  men having sex with her could tell from her struggle that she was not consenting - they were raping her.Yet the crime in this courtroom drama is about the cheering - and it seems clear that no one persuaded the first rapist to push something far beyond what Foster was willing (indeed, eager) to undertake.
At the end of the movie, there is a statistic on the screen about the frequency of rape - yet we have not seen a courtroom drama about rapists.There is another statistic about the frequency with which rape involves two assailants - yet none of the defendants in this courtroom drama were assailants - none seem to have touched her - and assault was not the crime in the courtroom trial.Jodie Foster's performance is spectacular - particularly during the bar scenes - she gives an electrifyingly sexy performance while playing pinball and dancing.
The movie portrays a rape victim(Foster) who is gang raped in a bar and her Attorney(McGillis) makes the decision to prosecute the men who cheered the attack on.
In The Accused, we follow Sarah Tobias'(Jodi Foster) fight to have the men who stood by and not only watched, but cheered on while other men raped her borough to justice.I am having a hard time reviewing this movie.
The Accused has three things that make it great: Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster, and a case where lots of the blame is placed upon the victim.
McGillis is pretty good as the lawyer who is at first resilient but then determined to get to the bottom of the rape case and prove the truth, but of course the film is all about Foster who is absolutely superb as the young woman abused by both hideous sexual assault and the law system but comes through as a moving and equally determined victim.
This is a pretty decent movie in its direction (Jonathan Kaplan) and its principal performances (Jodie Foster, as a gang-rape victim, and Kelly McGillis is the prosecuting Assistant District Attorney).In the opening scene we see Foster running out of a bar and onto a highway, sobbing, her dress torn.
I think Jodie Foster did an excellent job of playing the part of Sarah Tobias, (the rape victim).