SummaryA cynical former civil liberties attorney now reduced to "specializing" in defending drug dealers becomes transformed by an eight-year-old murder case.
Directed By:Joseph Ruben
Written By:Wesley Strick
True Believer
Metascore
Generally Favorable
64
User score
Available after 4 ratings
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
64
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
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80
James Woods, a bushy-tailed attorney, goes the distance with the powers that be and makes "True Believer" a legal blast.
75
The case involves lots of flaws in the original trial: unreliable eyewitnesses, time discrepancies, conflicts of interest. In other hands, this material might seem familiar, but Woods puts a spin on it, an intensity that makes it feel important - to him, and therefore to us.
70
The film's view of Eddie Dodd is occasionally on the facile side, but Mr. Woods's performance is crackling and passionate enough to give the character depth despite that; it's also laced with snappish, self-mocking humor that Mr. Woods delivers particularly well. This performance is so razor-sharp that Eddie can be seen coming alive with each little triumph, reveling in each little maneuver and taking each little disappointment terribly hard. His enthusiasm is irresistible.
60
True Believer is a thriller about moral rejuvenation, and there's not much wrong with it that another actor in the lead wouldn't cure.
40
Ruben’s stylistic devices, his high angle shots and his black-and-white recountings of courtroom testimony, become just so much cinematic corpse-rouging.
User score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
33% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
67% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Jan 15, 2024
5
Un film à procès et procédures des plus classiques pour ne pas dire rabâché en long, en large et en travers mais relevé par le bagout bien connu de James Woods, toujours excellent !… Mais comme d’habitude, la défense en difficulté tire un lapin de son chapeau juste avant que le marteau ne retentisse : pas de surprise donc, on est devant une sorte de… téléfilm (qui ne dit pas son nom) de facture très honnête mais sans plus.Rien à ajouter, Votre Honneur. La parole est à la défense et la notre finale est suisse, c’est-à-dire très neutre. Il est à noter que je jeune couillon inconnu en ce temps-là, est effectivement le dénommé Iron Man mais sans sa boîte de conserve marvelleuse repeinte au rouleau !
Production Company:
- Columbia Pictures
- Parkes/Lasker productions
Release Date:Feb 17, 1989
Duration:1 h 45 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Someone Got Away with Murder ... Until Now.
Awards
Cognac Festival du Film Policier
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
• 1 Nomination
