Year Released: 1990
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Starring: Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Brian Dennehy, Bonnie Bedelia, Greta Scacchi
(R, 128 min.)
Genre: Mystery and Thriller

“There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment.” –Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford)

A voluptuous femme fatale beckons us into a legal labyrinth of sharp turns and blind alleys. And Harrison’s Ford’s assistant DA is as much in the dark as the audience.

Perhaps keeping the audience on tenterhooks (along with its lead) up until the very end is Scott Turow’s greatest accomplishment in the first novel (1987) the practicing attorney ever wrote. And the film produced 3 years later under the subtle direction of Alan J. Pakula (Klute, The Parallax View, All the President’s Men, Sophie’s Choice, The Pelican Brief) is riveting.

Its tag line says it all:

Attraction. Desire. Deception. Murder. No one is ever completely innocent.

And what follows is a heady brew of film noir’s darkness and Shakespeare’s shaded nuance.

Harrison Ford’s voiceover narration, which opens and closes the film, is a staple of 1940s film noir. The first paints Rusty Sabich’s idealism and commitment to justice, the background shot of the empty jury seats adding impact:

I am a prosecutor. I am a part of the business of accusing, judging and punishing. I explore the evidence of a crime and determine who is charged, who is brought to this room to be tried before his peers. I present my evidence to the jury and they deliberate upon it. They must determine what really happened. If they cannot, we will not know if the accused deserves to be freed or should be punished. If they cannot find the truth, what is our hope of justice?

The final voiceover repeats part of the first, but it ends more succinctly:

There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment.

Flawed anti heroes and maybe more than a single femme fatale augment the film noir elements. But it is the Shakespearean in depth presentation of the entire cast that elevates Presumed Innocent to its status as a classic courtroom drama.

The first scene of not-quite-domestic bliss hints at a dissonance early on. Is this the usual husband wife banter or is there something more beneath the surface? Barbara’s (Bonnie Bedelia) dry depiction of Rusty as the perfect boy and his wry response reveal her underlying resentment and Rusty’s almost smug complacency. The fact that neither looks at the other while talking, his head buried in the morning paper, and her back turned to him while she pours the coffee, echoes what they say.

Barbara: I know. When you were nine you fed all the animals on the block. You made dinner for the family. You did everybody’s homework, and in your spare time you practiced law.

Rusty: I didn’t practice law until I was ten.

***

The scattershot narrative structure might be familiar to a prosecutor well schooled in bullet infused mayhem, but the murder that crosses Rusty’s desk involves a bloody blow to the head, as well as possible rape and torture. His boss – an always compelling Brian Dennehy as Prosecuting Attorney (DA) Raymond Horgan – insists that Rusty prosecute and win the case poste haste to rescue his sagging re-election campaign.

Unknown to him, of course, is the secret love affair between Rusty and the murder victim. We learn about it in the kaleidoscope of flashbacks that trace their sordid affair. And as these flashback continue, we find our ambitious victim, Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) was “involved romantically” with nearly the entire local justice system or at least large portions of it. A 1990 throwback to the 80s sex thrillers that dominated the screen the decade before.

But do we really need to parade their dangerous liaisons and their crude discussion of such across the screen so graphically? At least one other critic shares Different Drummer’s reservations:

First, in an apparent effort to contrast the sleazy personal lives of these characters with their required civility in the courtroom, he (Alan J. Pakula) includes in the film's first half an abundance of gratuitous profanity, spoken even by characters who seem unlikely to use such language, as well as a pair of steamy sex scenes. In the second half, as we enter the courtroom, all of these excesses virtually vanish. None of it is as over-the-top as, say, "Sea of Love," but the use of profanity and sex here do seem rather mechanical and overly theatrical. –Chris Hicks

Yes, Chris, in the second half these excesses vanish. Part of that is due to Raul Julia’s excellent portrayal of Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, who turns out to be one of author Scott Turow’s favorite characters, making his final bow in The Last Trial.

Ironically Rusty (an excellent Harrison Ford turning down his star presence) has to turn to a savvy and very expensive defense attorney, his jousting rival in the courtroom, to mount his defense. And Sandy Stern is every bit the professional, shrewd and manipulative, of course, but always staying within the bounds of the law. His melancholy eyes show a world-weariness as well-earned wisdom, which we only learn about after the trial. (On a sad note this wonderful actor died at the early age of 54 just 4 years after this film was made.)

Paul Winfield as the presiding judge presents another ideal in his no nonsense, balanced approach in the courtroom even as we learn of his human frailties outside the marble halls of justice.

Brian Dennehy fills the screen with his presence with each self-serving pore in his body. The man repels us; his acting enthralls.

A minor standout is John Spencer as Detective Dan Lipranzer, Rusty Sabich’s loyal friend with his own sense of right and wrong.

Rusty Sabich: You think I killed her?

Det. Lipranzer: The lady was bad news.

Rusty’s wife Bonnie Bedelia haunts us with her eyes, drawing us into her inner world, while his ex-lover, “victim” Greta Scacchi, reveals her character slowly as each veil of deceit is exposed.

The film’s title, more than the actual film itself, recalls an element unique to American justice, the presumption of innocence. That innocent-until-proved-guilty ideal so well presented in the classic 12 Angry Men (1957) seems to have faded from our consciousness recently and needs to be rediscovered. That situation alone recommends watching both these fine films.

Presumed Innocent explores the rank underbelly of politics, the wide repercussions of infidelity, and the maelstrom of obsession with artistry and finesse. Maybe with one twist too many and a bit too graphic at times. Not quite a must see, but definitely a highly recommended classic for discriminating viewers.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Lady Macbeth advises her husband to "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't." Unfortunately, far too many characters in Presumed Innocent seem to be listening to her as well.. Thus, the title refers not only to the ideal of our justice system, but perhaps to darker motives hidden under an assumed purity.

What better dish to show this than our Deception Chocolate Cake. Smooth, innocent buttercream frosting hides the dark chocolate cake underneath it.

Keep this recipe for special occasions, and enjoy every sinfully decadent bite.

But ignore Lady Macbeth’s advice or the lure of the femme fatales in our film. We all can’t afford defense attorney Sandy Stern, can we?

Deception Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Cake

· 2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

· 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

· 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/4 cups water

· 2/3 cup unsweetened dark baking cocoa

· 2/3 cup butter, softened

· 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

· 3 eggs

· 2 teaspoons vanilla

· 1/2 cup sour cream

Frosting

· 1 bar (4.4 oz) white chocolate, coarsely chopped

· 1 1/2 packages (12 oz) cream cheese, softened

· 3/4 cup butter, softened

· 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with cooking parchment paper. In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another small bowl, beat water and cocoa with whisk until well blended. Set both bowls aside.

2. In large bowl, beat 2/3 cup softened butter and the granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed about 2 minutes or until fluffy, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until smooth. Beat in 2 teaspoons vanilla. On low speed, beat in one-third of the flour mixture, then half of the cocoa mixture, beating well after each addition, just until smooth. Repeat with flour mixture and cocoa mixture, ending with flour mixture. Scrape side of bowl occasionally. Beat in sour cream until blended. Spread batter evenly in pans (about 2 cups batter each). Tap pans on counter 2 to 3 times to eliminate air bubbles from batter.

3. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave white chocolate uncovered on High 30 seconds; stir. Continue to microwave in 15-second increments until white chocolate is melted and can be stirred smooth. Cool 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. In large bowl, beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup softened butter with electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in cooled melted white chocolate. On low speed, beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until frosting is smooth and creamy.

6. Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting on top; top with second cake layer. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting on top; top with third cake layer. Frost sides with a thin layer of frosting so sides are covered but cake is still showing through. Spread thin layer of frosting on top of cake.

7. Place remaining frosting in decorating bag fitted with medium star tip. To pipe rosettes, apply steady pressure to bag while squeezing, and pipe in tight circle to make rosette flower. Stop squeezing, and quickly lift bag off. Pipe rosettes in different sizes to cover top of cake. Pipe small stars to fill in empty spaces. Use photo as guide. Refrigerate uncovered 2 hours.

8. Store any remaining cake loosely covered in refrigerator.

Gold Medal Flour.com