Review of High Crimes

Introduction

Morgan Freeman, along with Samuel Jackson and Michael Caine is one of those actors who are more comfortable in work than out. While he has made several films in his career, inevitably some are better than others. For every Seven or Shawshank Redemption, there is a Deep Impact or Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. However the good thing about Morgan Freeman`s work is that despite the quality of the film, you will be guaranteed an excellent performance. On occasion he has been the only good thing in a film and that pretty much meant that I was looking forward to High Crimes no matter what. Morgan Freeman reunited with Kiss The Girls co-star Ashley Judd in this courtroom thriller based on the novel by Joe Finder and directed by Carl Franklin. As I put the disc into my player, I could only hope that it wasn`t another Chain Reaction.

Claire Kubik is a highly successful lawyer who lives with her husband Tom in wedded bliss. The only thing lacking in their idyll is the patter of little feet, and they attempt to remedy that situation at the earliest opportunity. However their perfect little world is shattered when the FBI arrest her husband and transfer him to military custody. She is shocked to learn that her husband has been lying all these years. He is actually Ron Chapman, a marine who deserted from his post and changed his identity. He is also charged with the massacre of 9 innocents in El Salvador in 1988. Now that he has been apprehended, he will face the full force of military justice and a potential death sentence. When Claire meets the fresh faced and inexperienced counsel assigned to defend her husband, she decides to take the case herself, but unfamiliar with military protocol, she enlists the aid of unconventional lawyer Charlie Grimes. As they search for the evidence that will clear her husband, it becomes apparent that there is a cover up initiated from the highest levels, and powerful figures will go to any length to protect their reputations.

Video

High Crimes comes with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer from Twentieth Century Fox. It is an excellent transfer with a pristine picture. It is sharp and clear with strong vibrant colours. There is no print damage worth mentioning and there is no grain or artefacts. It doesn`t hurt of course that this is a recent film, but I couldn`t find fault at all with the image quality. Carl Franklin`s direction is workmanlike and otherwise hardly noteworthy. He makes use of all the standard thriller clichés with deft precision, grainy flashbacks, poignant slowmo, and ominous silhouetted figures.

This is also the first disc that I have come across that illustrates Fox`s new policy regarding retail and rental. As soon as I inserted the disc I was assailed by a warning stating that this disc is for retail only and if I had indeed rented it then I was to dial the relevant number.

Audio

The sound is a DD 5.1 English track and is unremarkable but effective. The surrounds are called on when the action demands it and there is suitable ambience. Likewise the music is perfectly fine and acceptable. It`s all quickly forgettable stuff, mind.

Features

A commentary and several featurettes grace High Crimes.

Director Carl Franklin provides the commentary and it`s a nice enough affair. He speaks at length and in some detail about making the film, though obviously he speaks very much from a director`s viewpoint. An excellent plus point is the addition of English subtitles for the commentary. However when the commentary fades and the film dominates, subtitles for the film are also flashed up. This may be a little confusing.

A Military Mystery (7 mins) is a conversation with author Joe Finder about the making of the movie from the viewpoint of the books author.

FBI Takedown in Union Square (4mins) is a behind the scenes look at the shooting of the arrest scene.

A Different Kind Of Justice (5 mins) showcases the difference between military and civil justice systems. It focuses more on terminologies than anything else.

Liar Liar: How To Beat A Polygraph (6 mins) again refers to one of the films pivotal scenes. It is a little featurette that explains the theory behind Polygraph machines and how they work.

Together Again (8 mins) is a little look at Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd and comprises interviews with the cast and crew.

Car Crash (2 mins) is a brief look at how the car crash was accomplished and uses split screen to compare the filming with the final product.

All the featurettes are subtitled in the same glut of subtitles that accompany the main feature.

Conclusion

High Crimes doesn`t quite work. It`s curious blend of courtroom drama and nail-biting thriller is a strange chimera that doesn`t really succeed at either genre. The start is promising enough. A marine with a false identity is apprehended by the authorities and charged with a massacre, his lawyer wife has to defend him in an unfamiliar courtroom, enter maverick lawyer with knowledge of military procedures, uncovering intimations of wrongdoings higher up in the chain of command, these are all ingredients of a gripping and exciting movie. Unfortunately the chef has made something of a hash.

The script is implausible to say the least. The actors manage admirably with such weak stuff, but any depth or intrigue is rapidly shrugged of in favour of a by the numbers thriller. The whole politics of US forces involved in assassination missions in Latin America is rapidly glossed over, as is the intimation and implications of cover-ups in the US government. Claire`s reaction to her husband`s lies is quickly dealt with. It`s hardly as if the subject hasn`t been tackled before in Courage Under Fire or that really shouty film with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.

It`s better to take High Crimes as just a thriller pure and simple and ignore any halfhearted pretension to deeper meaning. Yet even as a thriller it is curiously unsatisfying. The twists and turns are strictly by the book, and as the film raced relentlessly to its conclusion, I found myself drifting along with it rather than avidly hooked. By the time the final twist had twisted, the final thrill faded, I was disaffected with the whole thing. But there is a good point to High Crimes, and that is the cast. Morgan Freeman is excellent as Charlie Grimes and he has some great chemistry with Ashley Judd as Claire. I really enjoyed any screen time that they shared. Jim Caviezel is also good as Tom/Ron.

A good cast but a mediocre script makes for an above average film, if barely so. While High Crimes won`t be the first film to spring to my mind if asked for a decent thriller, I did manage to derive some enjoyment from it. It`s also been given an excellent transfer on this disc with a fair collection of extras. Give it a rent first.