Presumed Innocent

Plot synopsis:
Rozat "Rusty" Sabich (Harrison Ford) is a prosecutor in a mid-Western American city and the right-hand man of Kindle County Prosecuting Attorney Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy). Sabich is married with a young son. He arrives at work one day to learn that his colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) has been tortured and murdered in her apartment. Horgan insists that Sabich take charge of the investigation, especially since the election for County PA is due in a few days' time and that Tommy Molto (Joe Grifasi), the acting head of Homicide, has left to join the rival campaign of Nico Della Guardia (Tom Mardirosian).Sabich faces a conflict of interest since he had an affair with Polhemus. She dumped him when he showed little ambition, like running for office against Horgan, and will therefore be of little use to her and her own career. Sabich has since made up with his wife, Barbara (Bonnie Bedelia), though he is still obsessed with Polhemus and finds it hard to get her out of his mind. While Polhemus developed a reputation for aggressively prosecuting rapists and similar criminals, she had become an ambitious career-woman who slept around to advance herself.Although Detective Harold Greer (Tucker Smallwood) is initially in charge of the case, Sabich instead calls in his friend Detective Lipranzer (John Spencer) and persuades him to narrow the inquiry to focus on men that she put behind bars, thus excluding his relationship with Polhemus from the investigation. However, Sabich soon realizes that Molto is making inquiries of his own into the case.It becomes evident that some of the evidence suggests that the killer knew something about how police gather evidence and covered it up accordingly - suggesting a cop, a private detective, or even a PA. Semen was found in the victim's body but the sperm is dead, leading the coroner to conclude that the killer is sterile. The killer's blood type was A, the same as Sabich's, but he is a father, and obviously fertile.When Della Guardia wins the election for County PA, he and Molto are quick to accuse Sabich himself of the crime and pull out all the stops to gather evidence against him, including the way he conducted the investigation. The evidence includes a beer glass found in Polhemus' apartment with Sabich's fingerprints on it and fibers matching his home carpet that match fibers found on her body.Things aren't helped by the fact that Horgan suddenly turns against his friend and former protégé and claims that Sabich had insisted on handling the investigation - when in fact he didn't - which the prosecution uses to back their claim of a cover-up by Sabich. Horgan learns of Sabich's affair with Polhemus, just as Polhemus learns that Raymond also had an affair with Polhemus. Called to testify, Horgan doesn't reveal what he knows about Sabich's affair with Polhemus.Sabich calls on Sandy Stern (Raul Julia), a top defense attorney with whom he has often clashed in court. Stern acknowledges Sabich as his "toughest adversary" but agrees to take the case. When the trial begins, the prosecution reveals that the beer glass is missing from the evidence room. It is a crucial piece of the prosecution's case and Stern persuades Judge Larren Lyttle (Paul Winfield) to suppress the fingerprint evidence. Sabich's wife Barbara is surprisingly supportive throughout the trial.In the course of his investigation, Sabich discovered that Polhemus had acquired a "B-file" (meaning bribery) from Prosecuting Attorney Horgan which detailed a bribery case involving a law-enforcement official. It describes a man named Leon (Leland Gantt) who paid a $1500 bribe to get his case of public indecency thrown out of court. Carolyn Polhemus was his probation officer before she joined the Prosecuting Attorney's office and set up the bribe. The deputy prosecutor in charge of the case was Tommy Molto.The main thrust of Stern's defence is that Molto and Della Guardia have set Sabich up to help Nico Della Guardia's election campaign against Ramond or, Stern hints, as part of a cover-up of a bribery case that involved Molto. He implies that the details are revealed in the missing B-file. Sabich is demanding that he be allowed to testify, but his attorney Stern says he would only implicate himself. Sabitch's friend and fellow detective Lipranzer finds Leon. Leon reveals that the official who took the bribe was in fact Judge Larren Lyttle, the same judge handling Sabich's trial!Stern calls the coroner to the stand and while questioning him, produces contradictory evidence showing that Polhemus had a tubal ligation. He implies that the coroner must have mishandled or even falsified the evidence because a woman with a tubal ligation would not need to use contraceptive jelly like that found in the seminal fluid in her vagina. The prosecution persuades the judge to accept testimony from a fingerprint expert about the fingerprints on the glass, but since they are unable to produce the glass itself, the judge tells the juror that this introduces reasonable doubt into the prosecution's case.The next morning, the judge announces that based on the mishandled seminal fluid and beer glass evidence, and the lack of any proof that Sabitch and Polhemus had a relationship, he dismisses the case. Unknown to the jury, the judge was also influenced by the possibility that the missing B-file, which documented him accepting bribes, might turn up.Sabich presses his defense attorney Stern for information and learns, in private, that both Stern and Prosecuting Attorney Horgan knew that Judge Lyttle had been accepting bribes and that Polhemus was his courier. Lyttle had been going through a bad period after a divorce. He offered his resignation but the County Prosecuting Attorney Horgan believed that he was in fact a brilliant judge and should be given another chance. Stern raised the issue of the bribery investigation during the trail in a way that implied he knew what it revealed, causing the judge to think it's contents might be made public. On the whole, Stern concluded. Judge Lyttle handled the case is a rightful manner.Detective Lipranzer later reveals to Sabich on a boat that he has the missing beer glass. He failed to return it to the evidence room when Molto, in a bureaucratic foul up, signed it as "returned to evidence" when in fact it was still in the evidence lab. The evidence lab returned it to Lipranzer after he had already been taken off the case. Since nobody asked for the glass he simply kept it in his desk drawer. As far as Lipranzer was concerned: "The lady was bad news." He gave the glass to Sabitch who tossed it into the water.Sabich is in the clear, though he does not appear to be too pleased about the ways by which this was achieved.Some time later, while doing some work in his garden, Sabich comes across a small combination hammer, hatchet, and nail puller with blood and hair on it. The tool matches the coroner's description of the murder weapon. Sabich realizes that the blood and hair belong to Polhemus. His wife sees him washing the hammer and confesses to the crime. In a detached state, talking in the third person, Barbara confesses that, following his affair, she fell into a depression. She even considered suicide before deciding that it would be better to destroy the destroyer, i.e. Polhemus. She bought beer glasses like those they had given to Polhemus as a house-warming gift. She got Sabich's fingerprints on a glass. She also captured some seminal fluid from her vagina after sex with her husband and froze it. She arranged to meet Polhemus at her apartment, and when her head was turned, struck her and killed her. She used a syringe to insert the seminal fluid into Polhemus' vagina, making it look like her husband had sex with her before she died, implicating him in her death. She claims that she did not actually intend to frame her husband; she assumed that as the investigator he would soon realize that she had killed Polhemus and would file it as an unsolved case.Sabich cannot bring himself to separate his son from his mother and proceeds to cover-up the crime. In the end, justice was served.

Tags: neo noir, murder, violence, flashback, romantic, revenge

Review:
We learn, through flashbacks, the story of her affair with Sabich and that she was promiscuous, sleeping with a number of influential men who could help her career, including not only Sabich but also the DA himself.Besides being a legal thriller, "Presumed Innocent" is also a study in contrasts in character- either contrasts between two different persons or between the inner and outer person.
The direction, screenplay, and acting are all top notch and you never really know how it's going to turn out til the very end.Harrison Ford is the deputy DA accused of murdering one of the female attorneys in his office.
He knows Ford had had an affair with the victim and has physical evidence that he was at the murder scene and had been placing phone calls to her apartment in the days prior to her death.The continuing investigation by Harrison Ford's team of lawyers and his friends in the DA's office and the trial highlight the remainder of this film.
I thought it was his best film since the early days when he directed "Klute" and "The Parallax View" - certainly better than the muddled "Pelican Brief."  The overriding theme of the movie is darkness, people hiding secrets from one another, and the direction emphasizes that.
Raul Julia plays Ford's attorney defending him in court and he's excellent (I thought it was his best role in any film).
Pakula (Sophie's Choice 1982, All the President's Men 1976, Klute 1971, etc.), a fine script by Frank Pierson (whose credits include Cool Hand Luke 1967, Dog Day Afternoon 1975, A Star Is Born 1976, etc.), and an experienced, talented and well-directed cast headed by Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Greta Scacchi and Paul Winfield.Ford plays Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor compromised by his sexual obsession with a fellow prosecutor, Caroline Polhemus (Scacchi) who is found murdered as the film opens.
Paul Winfield, in a somewhat flamboyant style, plays Judge Larren Lyttle.Because Scott Turow knows the way the law works in practice as well as in theory, he having been a lawyer before he became a best-selling writer, we are treated to wood paneled intrigues and courtroom theatrics that have the unmistakable feel of authenticity.
Bedelia, whom I recall best as Shirley Muldowney in Heart Like a Wheel (1983) manages a delicate (and slightly unbelievable) persona with just the right amount of forbearance so that when the surprise ending comes we almost believe it.I say "almost," but you might want to judge for yourself.See this for Harrison Ford who plays a foolish and morally compromised man with just the sort of right stuff and disarming vulnerability we've come to expect from one of Hollywood's most popular leading men.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!).
Pakula's direction, along with strong performances by Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Brian Dennehy and all the other supporting cast, contribute strongly to a film that keeps you guessing until the very end; which by the way, will shock the sox off ya.This is a thriller that never gets out of hand, or goes over the top.
It stars Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Bonnie Bedelia, Raúl Juliá, Paul Winfield, John Spencer and Greta Scacchi.
Music is scored by John Williams and Richard Wolf, and cinematography is by Gordon Willis.Prosecuting attorney Rusty Sabich (Ford) suddenly finds himself a murder suspect after his one time lover, Carolyn Polhemus (Scacchi), is found raped and murdered in her home.
Only disappointments come with the performances of Joe Grifasi and Tom Mardirosian, who as the prosecutors come across as wimpy and hardly brick tight lawyers trying a high profile murder case.An intense and intellectual adult drama, Presumed Innocent is one of the best of its type from the modern era.
There is also the medical examiner, who is hilarious, by far my favorite character in the movie.Not director Alan Pakula's best work by far, though he does well by covering the ground he covered in "All the President's Men" by mixing crime and politics.
It is a thin retelling of the story without the rich inner reflections of the book where accused prosecuting attorney Rusty Sabich narrates in the first person his trial on a charge of killing a fellow prosecutor and femme fatale Carolyn Polhemus.Adapation is always a bitch, as Charlie Kaufman wonderfully demonstrated in his film "Adapation" but it works when the film makers realise that they are making a film and not précising the novel.
Here, despite excellent casting and first rate acting, what you see up on the screen, with all the moody, gloomy interiors, is a hard-to follow turgid courtroom drama.The book is an excellent account, written from first-hand experience, of what it's like to be a US-style prosecuting attorney in a large mid-western city as well as being a reasonably intriguing thriller.
I've seen thriller movies that leave you saying "I don't think that turned out so well." Or murder-trial movies that make you say: "Oh, THAT could never happen in real life!" Well, "Presumed Innocent," with all its virtues -- tight direction, excellent performances throughout -- has that one fatal flaw: The ending makes no sense -- NONE.
When I had watched this film a few years ago for the first time, my overall impression was highly negative; I found it to be a boring, stagy courtroom thriller unworthy of its great cast.
It didn't really have the 'big-budget' feel that all of Ford's previous (and recent) movies had, and that's one of the things that make it stand out.+ (GOOD THINGS)   1.) Ford's performance   2.) Alan Pakula's direction 3.) The supporting actors 4.) The twist ending 5.) John Williams' score 6.) The pacing(BAD THINGS)   1.) The box design 2.) The tagline 3.) The multitude of characters
Even though the person who's framing Rusty Sabich, Harrison Ford, has all the evidence planted that would convict him in a court of law for the new DA Nico Guardia, Tom Mardirosian, there are some things about the murder victim Caroline Polhemus, Greta Scacchi, that the person framing Rusty doesn't know about that will in the end have him go free.
Slow moving and hard to follow movie, because of the many side-stories, but the surprise ending in some ways make up for the films overall confusion to why and what were the reasons for all this to happen to Rusty.
What I also liked about "Presumed Innocent" is that it didn't have the typical Hollywood ending when it comes to movies about courtroom dramas where everyone gets just what's coming or not coming to them.
Being a huge fan of court room dramas, a fairly big one of Raul Julia, and a faithful supporter of Brian Dennehy and Harrison Ford, I decided to watch this film, as it came on TV.
Harrison Ford was the same old character that we know and love, but Raul Julia gave a great performance..
Though "The Fugitive" plays for more action/adventure while "Presumed Innocent" is much more a courtroom drama, each movie has the "man accused of a crime" (but the audience doesn't know if he actually did it) theme running through it.For a basic plot summary, "Presumed Innocent" opens with Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) as a high-profile deputy prosecutor working for Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy).
When a co-worker of Rusty's, Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) is murdered, Rusty suddenly finds himself on the top of the suspect list.I have watched this movie twice and found that it didn't hold up as well with time as I thought it might have.
This is one of those films that has a terrific, spellbinding ending, but to grasp the significance of that ending, the viewer must endure a slow, plodding, two-hour story that slowly builds suspense with subtleties and tedious detail.Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) is a smart prosecuting attorney who comes under suspicion in the murder of an attractive female colleague.
I enjoyed the performances of Raul Julia in the role of Sabich's lawyer and Paul Winfield in the role of the Judge.Despite a slow plot and the casting of Harrison Ford, I recommend this film, with its deep legal themes and terrific ending.
However, as a character-focused drama, this works best thanks a whole slew of fine acting performances.Ford is great when he's playing it worried and on the edge.
"Presumed Innocent" is a good solid thriller/courtroom drama staring Harrison Ford as prosecutor Rusty Sabich who finds himself accused of the rape and murder of a female colleague.
He was never a real name-above-the-title director like Hitchcock or Polanski, but his work was often as distinctive.The cast really delivers: Bonnie Bedelia, Raúl Juliá, Brian Dennehy, and especially John Spencer as Dan Lipranzer, but no actress at the time was hotter than Greta Scacchi.
These days, it's interesting to see Greta 25 years later in more sedate roles in "Miss Marple" and "Agatha Christie's Poirot".But this is Harrison Ford's film and he dug deep here - you can feel his pain as he wrestles with his guilt over the betrayal of his wife, and his humiliation in front of his friend, the tough Lapranzer, as he tries to distance himself from Carolyn's murder.Along with the great look of the film, the music helps with the feel.
I've gotta admit that I conjured "The Fugitive" when reading the synopsis for "Presumed Innocent" (Harrison Ford accused of a crime he didn't commit), but the two movies are apples and oranges.
The real surprise for me was that score, which sounds absolutely nothing like any John Williams music I've ever heard.I wasn't prepared for that ending, and I don't want to say it was cheap (although it felt that way at first), it did fit in pretty well with a movie's sleight-of-hand undercurrent.7/10.
Pakula directed this courtroom drama/mystery based on a Scott Turow novel that stars Harrison Ford as Deputy D.A. Rusty Sabich, who becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a coworker named Carolyn(played by Greta Scacchi) whom he was also having an affair with, despite being happily married to his wife(played by Bonnie Bedelia) He gets respected attorney 'Sandy' Stern(played by Raul Julia) to defend him, and their ensuing investigation leads them to some surprising secrets and motives, though the ultimate truth will hit Rusty close to home...
"Presumed innocent" is unfairly forgotten movie in both Harrison's Ford and Alan Pakula career's .
Gretta Scacchi is sexy as Carolyn Polhemus and don't forget the solid Bonnie Bedelia as Ford's wife.This is more than fine courtroom drama .
"Presumed Innocent" is a Thriller cum Court-room drama movie starring Harrison Ford.
In "Presumed Innocent",Harrison Ford plays deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich,who has been assigned to investigate the murder of a colleague.the hitch is,he had been sleeping with.he digs a bit deeper into the case than someone wants him to and finds himself charged with her murder.i had had the chance to watch this movie several times over the years and never got around to it.finally,i sat down to watch it.i was not impressed.the movie plods along much too slowly.it is not riveting or even compelling but i suck with it.i will give points for the ending though.it is something i did not expect and would have been pretty decent except they dragged it out long.Harrison Ford was convincing in a dramatic role.Bonnie Bedelia was good as the wife,and Raul Julia was very good as Sabich's defence attorney.as for the movie on a whole,it was disappointing.
The first movie on TV in 2005 (and if I haven't said it yet, happy New Year!) is this, a plodding court-room drama starring a young-looking Harrison Ford.
And sadly, this isn't one either.Ford plays Rusty Sabich, a hot-shot prosecutor who finds himself framed for the murder of his colleague and one-time lover Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi).
When the case ends, Ford finds a startling discovery that he must live with for the rest of his life.Brilliant performances by Harrison Ford and Raul Julia, as they kept me on the edge of my seat, and making the movie into a constant guessing game, with a surprise twist at the end that really makes you think about what you just watched.
Alan Pakula brings his brilliant directorial genius to this film adaptation of the Scott Turow best seller about an attorney (Ford) who is accused of murdering a sexy associate, whom he had an affair with.
The lack of suspense stops this film from being a thriller per say, and renders it more of a drama come muddled justice commentary, which is a shame as an update of 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt' wouldn't have been such a bad thing.Kudos to the ending though, which is actually quite good.
I think the main reason why this movie was so great was because of Harrison Ford's superb performance, also a great twist at the end.
He turns into an obsessive stalker, following and confronting Greta Scacchi and calling her at all hours and hanging up on her like a "little kid."  We can see his pain and Harrison Ford is not worried about appearing tortured and pathetic.The supporting characters are excellently casted and all deliver great performances.
Every time that Raul Julia councels Ford, we are convinced that it is advice that should be taken.All of the intricacies involving evidence and the trial build up the pressure until we reach the climax of the film, and if you haven't seen it yet, do so before someone casually reveals the end for you.
The only real problem with this movie is Harrison Ford's haircut (he looks like he stuck his head under an active lawnmower), but that's an entirely different story.4.5/5 stars.John Ulmer.
Presumed Innocent is a reasonably interesting crime thriller starring Harrison Ford.
If you want to really see something hot, see Witness, or The Fugitive.Who should see this film:-- action / thriller movie goers, but only on a rainy day-- Harrison Ford fans, but only on a rainy dayI'll give "Presumed Innocent" a so-so 6 out of 10..
Adapted from one of the best crime/courtroom novels of the 1980s, "Presumed Innocent" focuses on a prosecutor (Ford) accused of murdering his lover (Scacchi).
The other problem with the movie was the main character of Rusty Sabich (played by Harrison Ford.) Sabich simply never connected with me.
A good court drama/thriller with all the typical clichés but also some original moments and a good ending.Courtroom movies aren't known to be exciting and "Presumed Innocent" can't be called exciting either but still it is above average mainly thanks to some good storytelling and directing.
Under-rated courtroom drama that has lawyer Harrison Ford on trial for murder of fellow lawyer Greta Scacchi.
If you are looking for a suspenseful movie with unsuspecting twists and turns, complete with a surprise ending, Presumed Innocent should fulfil your needs.It is an incredible film that takes place in a corrupt judicial system.
If you want to know what John Williams can do with a light touch when he's not making epics like Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Harry Potter, you might want to play the film once more, just to focus on tasting and savoring the audio portion of this program.Raul Julia nailed the part of defense attorney Sandy Stern, Harrison Ford is phenomenal as Rusty, and Bonnie Bedelia; Brian Dennehy as District Attorney Raymond Horgan, Rusty's boss; Paul Winfield, the trial judge; and John Spenser as Rusty's friend Detective Lipranzer (West Wing, Leo McGarry) -- all turn in pro performances in support.
Pakula, known primarily for his conspiracy movies ("Klute", "The Parallax View", "Rollover", "The Pelican Brief", "All the President's Men"), directs "Presumed Innocent", a very good if somewhat conventional courtroom drama.The film stars Harrison Ford as a talented prosecutor who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a colleague with whom he had an adulterous affair.
Hmmm But it is really a masterpiece of film making in most cases, up there with Anatomy of a Murder (1959 - James Stewart, etc.) in all time thrillers in the order of an Alfred Hitchcock type movie.Twists and turns that make it look like it aims at one person then another, dirty cops, a boss that says he'll lie under oath, a judge who seems to care more about a missing glass and a missing 'B' (for bribery) file than the other evidence that seems to lead to the conclusion that it was who they were 'framing'.The ending makes you stop and think and gives you opportunity to discuss the justice system, the fact that though mostly we think it's the judges that let off criminals, there can be corruption even in prosecution, defense, police and in human beings in general.If you want lighthearted comedy or family fare, this isn't it.
Greta Scacchi, as the murder victim and Ford's colleague is good, and generally she turns in pretty solid performances, though she seems to generally be under Hollywood's radar.The script here is very good, particularly with the courtroom scenes that dominate the second half of the film.
Beside Raul Julia, Brian Dennehy and Bonnie Bedelia made great performances - just like the movie's center star Harrison Ford.
Basically District Attorney Rozat 'Rusty' Sabich (Harrison Ford), married with two children, learns that his former girlfriend Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) has been viciously murderer at her home, and he with her boss Raymond Horgan (Rambo: First Blood's Brian Dennehy) start an investigation.
The great acting is required of all the other characters, the lawyer (Raul Julia), the wife (Bonnie Bedelia), the sidekick (John Spencer), the corrupt boss (Brian Dennehy), and the judge (Paul Winfield), and of course the sultry and deceitful junior prosecutor, Greta Scacchi, arguably the most beautiful actress of modern times.I watched another old Harrison Ford film recently, "Frantic", and "Presumed Innocent" is by far the better film in every respect.
Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) plays a Prosecutor who is tasked with investigating a murder.