BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: "Presumed Innocent" is a suspenseful whodunit, a sexy thriller, a powerful courtroom drama and a dazzling vehicle for Harrison Ford. He plays a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker (Greta Scacchi) who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions. Brian Dennehy, Bonnie Bedelia, Raul Julia and Paul Winfield co-star under the crackling direction of Alan J. Pakula (The Pelican Brief, The Devil's Own). Suspense master Pakula uses Scott Turow's bestseller to examine the American legal system - discovering the sword of justice is double-edged.

FILM REVIEW: "Presumed Innocent" is a refreshing change of pace for Harrison Ford who we have become accustomed to seeing in big-budget action adventure films. Here he gets to extend himself in a serious adult drama that has a lot of twists and turns, nothing or no one is as it seems including Ford himself, and a fascinating court room drama which leaves you at the end wondering if justice was actually done or not. Director Alan J Pakula has crafted a gripping film, perhaps not in a fast-paced sense, but in a thought-provoking mystery sense as he takes us through a story filled with intrigue, great characters and deception.

Harrison Ford plays Rusty Sabich, one of the leading prosecutor's in the District Attorney's office. Told in flashback, we discover he's obsessed with young hot shot lawyer Caroline Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) and his sexual relationship with her. Caroline by contrast is a cunning manipulator who uses sex to further advance her career. One night she ends up murdered, and Rusty is accused of the crime and put on trial. All of his friends in the DA's office turn against him, and he finds himself enlisting the help of a former foe, Defence Attorney Sandy Stern (Raul Julia). As they delve deeper in to the events surrounding Caroline's death, they all discover a web of political intrigue in the DA's office and those seeking to usurp its power.

What works so well in this story is that we're not really sure that Rusty is innocent. I guess they picked the title well! In some instances, Rusty's fate is almost secondary to the wider story of the way all these characters are playing games with each other, particularly the incoming DA's who have swept to power over former lead DA, Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy). Horgan himself turns against Rusty when it's clear who his new bosses are and lets Rusty get thrown to the wolves. Raul Julia as Stern is great, playing the character from an outside perspective and seeks to bring all of this to light, even pointing to corruption all the way up to the judge presiding over Rusty's trial played well by Paul Winfield.

This film is thrilling, but it is a courtroom drama. The thrills and the intrigue come from the dialogue and the complicated character interactions so if that's not your thing you'll probably think I'm on another planet calling this a thriller. However, some times you don't need things jumping out at you for it to be thrilling and "Presumed Innocent" works wonders in this regard. The courtroom scenes are probably the best scenes in the film, especially on certain occasions as we see Stern take apart most of the DA's witnesses and in the process destroying the DA's case against Rusty.

Perhaps the only downside is the ending where the real killer is revealed. Given how much mystery and intrigue and broader events pertaining to the actual murder fuel the entire story, it would have been better if the film hadn't actually revealed the identity of the killer, instead leaving it up to the audience to figure it out. But being a Hollywood film there has to be some definitive resolution and we get one. It's not really satisfying and seems tacked on; the killer explains their motivation very clearly and succinctly, in direct contrast to the rest of the film which is quite tricky in revealing the facts. A disappointment to be sure, but it's only a minor one and doesn't detract too much from the overall film.

This is a very good film that will keep you fascinated right up until the end to find out who did it!

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The transfer of this film to DVD is okay but not all that good. Given that films older than this have been given stellar transfers, it seems in this case only a basic transfer was required. There are film scratches evident throughout the film and the image overall is a bit soft and muted. The audio soundtrack is nothing special, but then this is a dialogue driven film so don't expect to give your surround system a work out with this DVD. This transfer really should have been a lot better.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The only extras on this disc are additional French and Italian soundtracks and a number of subtitles. The absence of any other material is quite pathetic, and hopefully one day a new edition with extra material is released.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.