High Crimes

HIGH CRIMES

Rating: C

Summary: Judd for the defense.

Hmmm... Suspense thriller starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman... Didn't I just see this movie? Judging by the vast sea of empty seats at a 7:30 pm showing in LA on opening weekend, I wasn't alone in this appraisal. But those of you thinking this film is just a standard paint-by-numbers detective thriller are clearly mistaken. It's really a paint-by-numbers military courtroom drama. So there.

Judd plays a defense attorney whose fast track world gets turned upside down when hubby James Caviezel is suddenly accused of being a fugitive from justice. They claim he murdered civilians in Latin America back when he was a soldier. He claims he's innocent. Yeah, sure, Jim, everybody's always innocent - them prisons are just bursting with innocent people. But Judd believes him, and the deeper she digs, the more evidence she uncovers of a military conspiracy to frame her husband. Not content with the counsel appointed to defend him (Adam Scott, who seems a very nice chap even if he hasn't ever won a case), she decides to take the case herself, and seeks down-and-out attorney Morgan Freeman's assistance. Freeman puts it succinctly when he observes, "Military justice has as much to do with justice as military music has to do with music." (Think this was what George W. had in mind when he asked Hollywood to help sell his war on terror?) But Freeman has beaten the military court system in the past, so Judd wants him for his experience.

So there you have it. All the elements are in place for another slam-bang drama with a courtroom full of guys in green uniforms. Because the word "conspiracy" rears its ugly head, you can bet there'll be scenes of mysterious trucks ominously creeping up behind Judd as she jogs, and mysterious break-ins at her house. Strange strangers will say strange things to her in the supermarket, and I don't mean just "Mine's bigger" when she's in the produce section. She and Freeman will encounter witnesses in all sorts of weird places at all hours of the night as they frantically search to find the one piece of evidence which will clear Caviezel. Freeman confesses he used to be an alcoholic, but since he's been sober for the past 489 days we know that's not going to be a problem. Um, don't we?

Although you'll probably get the feeling you've seen it all before, you may still find this film enjoyable. Many of the "surprises" telegraph themselves miles in advance. And some of the scenes where Judd has a revelation or suddenly decides on a certain course of action don't make a lot of sense. For example, when she approaches a general implicated in the coverup, and he brushes her aside, she acts like she didn't expect such treatment. Then she has this "brilliant" inspiration of taking the story to the press, and we're left wondering what the big deal is. The ending, for its part, is rather odd in its manner, and feels like it creates new loose ends as it ties up the old. You won't miss anything by waiting for the video.