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Rating:  -
This was an excellent suspense thriller. I was caught off guard for the final twist. I recommend this movie.
Rating:  -
HIGH CRIMES is a powerful, quick paced, eyes-peeled to the screen
kind of movie, that will keep you on the edge of your seat for
most of the picture, until the very end, notwithstanding some
jaded and defeatist comments seen elsewhere on this site from
other movie goers.
The military tribunal, and the portrayal of military life, mility
justice and those who work in that industry - as living in a
significantly differnet world than the civilian one - is
accurate. Obviously, anyone having done basic training will
recall the indoctrination, team values, hard work, dedication and
focus that those joining it are expected to incorporate into
themselves, that some might also call, brainwashing or hazing.
In this movie, James Caviezel plays a character that is difficult
to discern, as a good guy or bad guy...he keeps the audience
guessing until the very end. Most will fail to recognize him, as
Mel Gibson's Jesus, as I did, certainly.
The weak spot of this movie, are 1 or 2 special effects and
action scenes, .. such as when the SUV is pushed over the side of
the highway, and flips over. The vehicle didn't seem to have the
natural momentum to flip, and this is later shown accurate in the
extras part of the DVD, which shows wires pulling the SUV to one
side, digitally manipulated afterwards to hide those wires from
the viewers. Others effects and scene and better filmed, such as
the scene in the street, with the SWAT team.
All in all, this movie, with Morgan Freeman bringing his
credibility to it, and Ashley Judd showing her dynamic and
articulate presence, is not to be underestimated, considering
that it will impact the mind of the viewers with a strong and
remarkably powerful artistic statement.
Rating:  -
THE CASE: High Crimes begins with grainy footage of a bunch of bodies lined up in a grungy town, while an elderly woman wails over and over. We flash back to the happy marriage of Claire (Ashley Judd) and Tom Kubik (James Caviezel) who are trying to start a family. She's a successful lawyer; he's a successful Marine. Their life is disrupted by a break-in by some punks.
In a trend that is highly representative of the disjointed plotline of High Crimes, Tom is suddenly arrested. Tom's name is actually Sergeant Ron Chapman, and he is wanted for the execution of a bunch of people in another country. But Tom/Ron proclaims his innocence, complicated by the fact that Claire is pregnant.
So Claire buckles down. She decides to stand by her man and act as counsel on the case after meeting Ron's defense, Lieutenant Terrence Embry (Adam Scott), a newbie for sure. Claire's not dumb; she knows she needs help. She pulls in Dr. Alex Cross...I mean Charles W. Grimes, played by Morgan Freeman. Complicating things is Jackie (Amanda Peet), Claire's sister.
I'm bringing High Crimes up on charges of opaque plot points, awful stereotypes, and worst of all, just being plain boring. The charges are as follows:
HIGH CRIME #1: Using Grimes' alcoholism for laughs. It's not funny and it's insulting to alcoholics.
HIGH CRIME #2: Portraying the Marines as bloodthirsty, incompetent thugs who terrorize women and the downtrodden. It's offensive to just about everyone in the armed forces.
HIGH CRIME #3: The Jackie character doesn't need to be in the movie. Peet's sole purpose is apparently to walk around in underwear so that Judd doesn't have to.
HIGH CRIME #4: Idiotic clues. Ambidextrous people do NOT all throw things back and forth in their hands; that is certainly not indicative of a person being a criminal. Worse, in the flashback sequences, the main bad guy tosses an AK-47 (not an easy weapon to toss around) back and forth in his hands. All to demonstrate he's ambidextrous and therefore the killer.
HIGH CRIME #5: A long, drawn-out (115 minute) plot with a depressing conclusion that doesn't make up for any of the nonsense we had to put up with to get to the end.
LESSER CHARGES: Unbelievable plot points (a civilian lawyer defending her military husband?), choppy editing (what does the break-in have to do with anything?), cheesy music that telegraphs When Bad Things Are About to Happen (TM), characters that appear out of nowhere and then disappear until conveniently needed, and really stupid terror tactics by the shadowy bad guys.
Your honor, I find High Crimes guilty of all of the above charges and recommend both Judd and Freeman be given better acting opportunities, Yuri Zelster and Grace Cary Bickley sent to writing school, and director Carl Franklin sentenced to acting in the Alf Christmas Special...again.
Rating: -
If you are a fan of either Ashley Judd or Morgan Freeman, you should like this movie. I am a fan of both of them so I loved this movie. Sure there are holes in the plot. Yeah, you can see the twist at the emd coming. So what? Ashley is terrific and Morgan is lovable. They have fantastic on screen chemistry. Add to that another of my favorite actors, Jim Caviezel and for some of us 'High Crimes' becomes a can't miss flick. I gave it 4 stars for the plot holes. Could have been 5 stars easily.
Rating:  -
In the beginning, the star looked like the gorgeous, talented Ashley Judd of 'Double Jeopardy,' but when time came for her to be a qualified attorney in court, she took on the personna of Marcia Clark, the competent defender of the O. J. trial of the century. As an investigator into this case in which she was too close, no way could she even think of being impartial, she traveled the world to find evidence to win her case.
In El Salvador, she is givne the wrong information and she uses touch tactics with the government lawyer to expose the whole covert operation (so like the Green Berets in Vietnam) which gives her client the edge so as not to make the U. S. Marines look bad. She pays dearly for this mistake.
This whole film was Ashley Judd, and she just was not capable of carrying the show. Making the alcoholic attorney with a suite of offices in a yellow adobe in Mexico appear incompetent was a bummer. He was like Howell Forrester, who let drink keep him from seeing things clearly, and thus was too slow on the uptake.
Seeing her strut in L.A. and outrun a Chevy truck on the streets, flying into John Wayne airport in Orange County, and generally masquerating as a real female attorney like Marcia Clark was interesting but not believable.
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