Presumed Innocent

Scott Turow's acclaimed controversial novel hits the big screen with compelling force thanks to director Alan Pakula's deft touch and a host of subtly engaging actors. Harrison Ford plays Rusty Sabich, a high profile prosecutor who ends up being the chief suspect in the murder of a woman (Greta Scacchi) in his own office. It doesn't help that the married Rusty was having an affair with the deceased, a piece of evidence that's just as damning to his marriage with Barbara (Bonnie Bedelia) as it is to his case. Raul Julia plays his flustered but eloquent defense attorney and Brian Dennehy is his superior, a man with significant personal stakes in the outcome of the trial. Ford ably portrays a complex and jaded man in Presumed Innocent, offering a nuanced performance that leaves Rusty's culpability very problematical indeed.