I'm a sucker for courtroom films ever since I watched Witness for the Prosecution (1957) with Charles Laughton & Marlene Dietrich, a real oldie. In High Crimes, Ashley Judd is Claire an attorney and the wife of the accused. Morgan Freeman is Charlie Grimes another attorney with experience in military justice. They both do a class job of acting their parts. They are professionals of the Hollywood variety and this is a well-done Hollywood style film. Carl Franklin directed the film. His courtroom is a little different, since it is a military court run under UCMJ guidelines. I found his plot progression logical, but I didn't like what I would call character manipulation in order to provide a plot twist. The film story is based on the novel by Joseph Finder. One of the high points for me on the DVD is an interview with Finder. He talks about the differences and similarities in the two art forms, film and writing. He impressed me with his enthusiasm about writing and his reasonable perspective on Hollywood. To see this interview go to Special Features in the DVD menu and click on A Military Mystery. Finder accepted Franklin s offer for a cameo appearance in the film. He sits at the prosecution table in the military courtroom with his head shaved. He tells a funny anecdote about that experience. Near the beginning of the film there are some neat scenes of my hometown, San Francisco; a time lapse shot of downtown looking toward Oakland with Market Street at the lower left and later Union Square. There is some nice trumpet work on the audio track during the downtown scene.

2003-01-21