3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a lawyer who needs to know the truth, February 22, 2001
This review is from: Last Innocent Man [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This HBO TVM is simply directed by Roger Spottiswoode, and the twists of the narrative that finally exhaust one's patience are probably more due to the source material - a novel by real-life defense attorney/author Phillip M. Margolin - where Margolin or his teleplay adapter have gone for suspense drama overdrive. The fact that the initial set-up subverts expectations of cliches is enough to make the initial hook. As the attorney who takes on the case of defending the husband of his lover, Ed Harris is his usual stoic sense. It helps that the wife he is having an affair with is played by Roxanne Hart, since Hart comes across as so ordinary. This is not meant as a criticism of her acting, since it makes the character more than just a femme fatale. Hart has the kind of face that resembles, at times, Jane Fonda, Vera Miles and Kathleen Turner, and it's because she is so ordinary that we wait for her to reveal her duplicity. Her husband is also suspect, mostly because he is played by Darrell Larson, whose career dived from The Paper Chase TV series to playing Louella Parson's errand boy in Frances, who tricked Jessica Lange's Frances Farmer. Two subplots featuring David Suchet as an English writer Harris has recently had found not guilty of murdering his wife, and Bruce McGill as a cop who testified against Suchet and is now a witness against Larson, come together for the climax. Regrettable neither actor impress with Suchet being particularly arch - one look at him telegraphs how guilty he actually is. However I did like the salty Rose Gregorio being the prosecuting attorney against Harris, and Mod Squad's Clarence Williams III as a pimp.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm A Bit Bias, April 24, 2006
This review is from: Last Innocent Man [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"The Last Innocent Man" is an edgy courtroom/lawyer thriller with an early strong performance by now legendary Ed Harris. I'll admit my bias right now! Yes, I was a Juror extra on the shoot. However, working in such a capacity did not allow for any look at the script. So, I had to wait to see it along with the general populace.
There are a couple of script contrivances (there was trouble with rewriting during the shoot) but it is the performances that more than make up for that. Besides the aforementioned Mr. Harris, there is a simmering performance by Clarence Williams III, Roxanne Hart is very good as well as little-known Bob Biheller in a small role as a private eye.
Give this movie a shot, you shant be disappointed.
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