Presumed Innocent 1990

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: A riveting adaptation of Scott Turow`s novel about a prosecutor prosecuted for murder. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: This deliberately paced, almost monochromatic movie reserves its real energy and color for blaming the victim. Read more

Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times: Intelligent, complex and enthralling. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Presumed Innocent is a stylish, dark-toned movie with handsome photography (by Gordon Willis) and solid performances. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: Pakula and the cast are excellent in the cut and thrust debates and the grilling of witnesses. At least on the surface, Presumed Innocent unfolds in the grand tradition of great courtroom drama. But nothing in Presumed Innocent is what it seems. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Mr. Ford, who comes alive in the flashbacks recalling his tempestuous affair with Carolyn, spends much of the film with a wary, cautious expression masking all other emotions. He does this with flawless delicacy... Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: A top-notch courtroom drama that will keep you guessing if you haven't read the book; even if you have, it is still a very well crafted story. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Director Alan J. Pakula, who cowrote the script with Frank Pierson, has done a reasonable job of compressing Turow's plot into a two-hour space. But the narrative skeleton is all that's left. Read more

Terrence Rafferty, New Yorker: A ponderous adaptation of Scott Turow's cunningly plotted mystery novel. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The adaptation of Turow's novel does a good job of presenting the evidence as needed, and no more than is needed, while allowing time for the characters to establish themselves. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Ford -- breaking again from his Indiana Jones heroics -- is astonishingly fine in a performance of controlled intensity. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: Conscientiously as this movie has been made, it does not work as well as the novel did or as some of Pakula's other films have. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: In a welcome return to suspense, Pakula effectively conveys the claustrophobia of domesticity and courtroom procedure. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Honed to a riveting intensity by director Alan Pakula and featuring the tightest script imaginable, Presumed Innocent is a demanding, disturbing javelin of a courtroom murder mystery. Read more

Joe Brown, Washington Post: Competent, resolutely unflashy. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: A solid whodunit. Read more