High Crimes (2002)

Director:

Carl Franklin

Writers (WGA):

Joseph Finder (novel)
Yuri Zeltser (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 April 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Everything you trust. Everything you know. May be a lie...

Plot:

High powered lawyer Claire Kubik finds her world turned upside down when her husband, who she thought was Tom Kubik...

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Marine | Murder | Terrorist | Pool

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ashley Judd	...	Claire Kubik
Morgan Freeman	...	Charles W. Grimes
James Caviezel	...	Tom Kubik / Sgt. Ron Chapman (as Jim Caviezel)
Adam Scott	...	Lt. Terrence Embry
Amanda Peet	...	Jackie
Bruce Davison	...	Brig. Gen. Bill Marks
Tom Bower	...	FBI Agent Mullins
Juan Carlos Hernández	...	Maj. James Hernandez
Michael Gaston	...	Maj. Lucas Waldron
Jude Ciccolella	...	Col. Farrell
Emilio Rivera	...	Salvadoran Man
Michael Shannon	...	Troy Abbott
John Billingsley	...	Lie Detector Coach
Dendrie Taylor	...	Lola
Paula Jai Parker	...	Gracie

Also Known As:

Crimen en primer grado (Argentina) (Colombia) (Peru) [es]
High Crimes - Im Netz der Lügen (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Büyük günahlar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Crima de înalta tradare (Romania) [ro]
Crimes em Primeiro Grau (Brazil) [pt]
Crimes et pouvoir (France) [fr]
Den skjulte sandhed (Denmark) [da]
High Crimes (Japan: English title) [en]
High Crimes - Auf höchsten Befehl (Germany) [de]
High crimes - Crimini di stato (Italy) [it]
Salattu rikos (Finland) [fi]
Tiszta ügy (Hungary) [hu]
Toda la verdad (Spain) [es]
Ypsila eglimata (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:AA | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificates #38676)

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

After Charlie ('Morgan Freeman') is attacked at the bar, Claire (Ashley Judd) suggests that he go to the hospital to check on his ribs. In Kiss the Girls (1997), Judd's character suggested the exact same thing to Freeman's. Both times he refused.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the man from the bar makes Claire get out of the car, the tail-lights are left on. While they are talking a security guard drives up and the man runs to get back into the car, but the tail-lights are off.

Quotes:

[Charlie and his dog Delilah's answering machine]
Charlie Grimes: This is C.W. Grimes and associates. If you wanna talk to Charlie you should leave a message after the beep. I you wanna talk to Delilah, you should get your head examined!

Movie Connections:

References Kiss the Girls (1997)

Soundtrack:

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

A decent time-passer, but in the end not that much more interesting than a Perry Mason TV movie.

"High Crimes" wants to keep you guessing all the way to the end, but it makes a crucial mistake in its casting.

Not Ashley Judd as the lawyer at the centre of the story (she's actually better than her material), not Morgan Freeman as the ex-JAG lawyer she turns to for more experienced help (so is he) and certainly not Amanda Peet (wasted again as our heroine's sister) - the problem is Jim Caviezel as our heroine's husband, who may or may not have executed several civilians in Central America several years previously. If director Carl Franklin had cast someone with more charisma and more convincing delivery, the movie would have had the element of doubt it needed; admittedly the plot should have focused more on the suspect the way it did, say, on Jeff Bridges in "Jagged Edge," but Caviezel's screen absence (as opposed to presence) throws the movie off-balance, and it needs all the help it can get.

The movie's reminiscent of a few too many other productions, particularly "A Few Good Men" and the aforementioned "Jagged Edge" (among other Joe Eszterhas-scripted movies) - in no small part because of a few gaping loopholes, and the would-be surprise twist in Yuri Zeltser and Cary Bickley's script isn't really surprising, as it's the only way this movie COULD climax. (It's also hard not to think the fisticuffs thrown in are for Token Violence Purposes only - they may as well have thrown in some gratuitous Judd/Peet nudity. Chance would be a fine thing...)

It's too competently made and performed to not keep you watching, and it certainly won't be accused of being a recruiting film for the military, but in the end "High Crimes" is ultimately the sort of thing that shorn of the strong language would fit in quite snugly on TV alongside "Perry Mason" and "JAG." Except that it's arguably not as consistent as the other two.