High Crimes Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)May 3rd, 2002
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Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd first acted together in the cinematic adaptation of James Patterson's Kiss the Girls, and now they're re-teamed for a big-screen version of another popular novel, Joseph Finder's High Crimes - a film that only sounds like it should be starring Method Man and Redman. Instead of a lowbrow weed comedy, Crimes is a military courtroom thriller with a simple, predictable story elevated by a strong performance from Judd.
Judd (Someone Like You) is Claire Kubik, a San Francisco defense attorney who is about to be made partner at her tony law firm after she earns a surprising retrial for a man accused of rape. She might be a real ballbreaker at work, but at home Claire is a sweet, shy wife who takes ovulation tests to find out the optimum time for her husband Tom (James Caviezel, The Count of Monte Cristo) to knock her up in a fully clothed PG-13 sex scene. Shortly after a late night break-in at their home, Claire is more than a little shocked when the FBI snatches Tom up one evening as they stroll down the street.
Turns out Tom is really Ron Chapman, a former Marine accused of slaughtering nine innocent Salvadorian villagers back in 1988. He's now facing the death penalty, a tough-as-nails prosecutor (Michael Gaston), a rookie defense attorney (Adam Scott, Party of Five) and a judge that really dislikes outsiders to the military system (Jude Ciccolella). Worse yet, the commanding officer who ordered the village raid is now the most powerful, most decorated Marine in the country (Bruce Davison, crazy/beautiful). Claire, of course, plays a big role in the defense of his court martial but is being followed and/or terrorized by both the very soldier Tom/Ron says was really responsible for the killings (Juan Carlos Hernández), as well as an angry Salvadorian man who lost his family back in '88 (Emilio Rivera).
Aiding Claire in her seemingly impossible battle are her flaky, deadbeat sister Jackie (Amanda Peet, Saving Silverman - imagine being the horny teenage kid living next door to their house!) and a crusty, motorcycle-riding, recovering alcoholic attorney who once took on the Marine system and won (Freeman, Along Came a Spider - he's gone from Easy Reader to Easy Rider). They all operate out of a dinky house on the military base and run into the typical roadblocks and dead ends during their investigation.
A Few Good Men was a decent film but not really groundbreaking enough that every military courtroom thriller to follow (Rules of Engagement, Hart's War, The General's Daughter) should look like a big bag of crap. I could have walked out of Crimes with 20 minutes to go and still told you exactly what happened to each of the characters. If you can't see this ending coming from a mile away, well, then I guess you're the reason Hollywood keeps making films like this. I don't know if the problem is with the source (Finder's novel) or its adaptation (by B-movie director Yuri Zeltser and The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag scribe Cary Bickley).
Director Carl Franklin, who is still struggling to live up to the promise exhibited in the critically acclaimed (and pre-Sling Blade Billy Bob Thornton-penned) One False Move, is all over the map here, with some scenes quite lovely and others downright clunky. Freeman delivers another one-note performance (but it's such a great note) and Peet doesn't have a thing to do other than walk around in her underwear, leaving Judd to carry the whole load. She's not that strong of an actress (I'm not sure any actress is strong enough to tote this barge), but her work in Crimes is commendable, likable, and will probably earn her work in more films just like this.
2:10 - PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language
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