Presumed Innocent (Widescreen/Full Screen)

Prosecuting attorney Rusty Sabich, (Harrisn Ford) is deeply shaken by the sudden rape and murder of a colleague and former love interest (Greta Sachi). The case takes a dramatic turn, when Rusty is soon charged with crime, by his boss, Raymond Horgon (Brian Dennehy). Lawyer Sandy Stern (Raul Julia), decides to defend Sabich, even though the odds are stacked against his client.

Pakula, who made a name for himself with All The President's Men, creates another potbiler, that if you have never read the book, will keep you guessing till the end. The acting is superb. Bonnie Bedelia took a break from the Die Hard films to play Barbara Sabich, giving one of the best performances of her career. The film gets a boost of comic relief, from the late great Paul Winfield as no nonsense Judge Larren Lyttle.

The DVD doesn't really have any susbtantial extras. The disc only has a few production notes and the theatrical trailer. Viewers can watch the film in either the full-screen or widescreen formats.

Presumed Innocent is a worthwhile film and despite lackluster extras on the disc, it's still comes recommended.

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. We see her in flashback as a conniving mantrap who uses her wiles to further her career. Sabich is assigned to the case by his boss, Raymond Horgan (Dennehy) who is up for reelection. Sabich would like to recuse himself but Horgan demands that he take the case and get the perp "yesterday" otherwise they will all be out a job because he will lose the election. Bedelia, looking particularly beguiling, plays Sabich's sexually frustrated and deeply hurt wife, Barbara.

When the election is lost the new prosecutors arrest Sabich and charge him with murder. He is defended by the very smooth Raul Julia who plays defense attorney Sandy Stern. 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. The dialogue is veracious and the character cross-currents vividly real. Ford gives what I think is one of his best performances as a man tormented by his infidelity and caught in a vise of circumstance largely stemming from that infidelity. Dennehy is a big-mouthed and big-headed politician in the familiar Windy City style. Raul Julia's Sandy Stern is cosmopolitan and brilliant, cynical and slick, a kind of Latin Johnny Cochran. 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.