Word: forde
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...warned, however, that the opening scene is not representative of the rest of the film. In a flat and uninspired directorial decision the movie begins with a camera shot of an empty courtroom, and a voice-over by Harrison Ford. Ford does the typical introductory over-dramatization: "I am a prosecutor. I put people behind bars..." No, this will not be the first movie you have seen that focuses on harried big-city lawyers battling each other. Give the movie some time, though, because it does become steadily more intriguing...
...such an opportunity when one of his own prosecutors, Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) is found bludgeoned to death in her apartment one night after seemingly being raped and tied up. Feeling that the balance of his career as a prosecutor rests on this case, Horgan assigns Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford), his chief deputy and right hand man, to investigate it. Sabich, a married man who was actually obsessed with Polhemus after she terminated their secret affair, protests only mildly before accepting the assignment...
...much of the credit for the scenes the director and editors so carefully craft has to go to the actors. The entire cast gives strong performances, but Ford stands out. Because of Ford's characteristic calm in nearly all his other movies (and supposedly off-screen, too) he is an excellent choice for Sabich. The moments when Sabich actually does get frustrated, or lose control, or yell, contrast powerfully with his character's general self-restraint. When Sabich discovers the county medical examiner is falsifying records, for example, his voice rises and shakes. A single tear trickles slowly down...
Conscientiousness may, indeed, be part of the problem. In converting the story of Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford), a public prosecutor forced by circumstantial evidence and local political imperatives to stand trial for the murder of Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), an upper-slutty colleague, Pakula seems overawed by the book's critical and popular success. Whatever its other virtues, Presumed Innocent was basically a page turner; the movie is a slow burner...
...equally hard to understand Ford's owlish performance as Sabich. He is supposed to be a smart, aggressive lawyer, tops at his trade. But Ford is mostly dull and inward looking, at best cranky where he should be vigorous and resourceful. There are some excellent things in Presumed Innocent: Scacchi's erotic heat as she lures Sabich into adultery; Paul Winfield's sardonic knowingness as he presides over Sabich's trial; Brian Dennehy's deadly impassivity as he betrays a friend to protect his career. Each anatomizes a subspecies of the political animal with finely observed accuracy. Each gives...