True Crime (1999)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

Andrew Klavan (novel)
Larry Gross (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Plot:

Can an over-the-hill journalist uncover the evidence that can prove a death row inmate's innocence just hours before his execution?

Plot Keywords:

Wedding Ring | Kissing | Lawyer | Reporter | Locket

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Steve Everett
Isaiah Washington	...	Frank Louis Beechum
Lisa Gay Hamilton	...	Bonnie Beechum
James Woods	...	Alan Mann
Denis Leary	...	Bob Findley
Bernard Hill	...	Warden Luther Plunkitt
Diane Venora	...	Barbara Everett
Michael McKean	...	Reverend Shillerman
Michael Jeter	...	Dale Porterhouse
Mary McCormack	...	Michelle Ziegler
Hattie Winston	...	Angela Russel
Penny Bae Bridges	...	Gail Beechum
Francesca Fisher-Eastwood	...	Kate Everett
John Finn	...	Reedy
Laila Robins	...	Patricia Findley

Also Known As:

True Crimes (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:15 (British Film Censors) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cotati, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: Family members of condemned inmates in California are not allowed to attend executions.

Quotes:

Steve Everett: I'll have a Virgin Mary... heavy on the Virgin.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Little Drummer Boy

Fair thriller

Another fairly dreary thriller from Clint Eastwood based on a best-seller. As a broken down reporter hoping to redeem himself by saving an innocent man from death row, Eastwood might have been able to make something out of his role, but his insistence, at age 68, to play a ladies man, one who is even seen shirtless, sabotages the effort, as does his decision to play Steve Everett (which sounds like the name of a character Elvis would have played in one of his race car movies) as a chain smoker. Like Dustin Hoffman in "Straw Dogs" and Kevin Costner in "The Untouchables," just the way he holds the cigarette convinces a smoker like myself that health nut Clint is a pretender to the nicotine habit.

Still, unlike "Absolute Power," his previous starring vehicle, "True Crime" manages to work up a fair amount of suspense as Eastwood races against the clock to save a man's life and to save his own career. There's also a fine cast. Unlike his potboilers of the 70s and 80s in which the supporting roles were usually filled by good actors whose careers had nonetheless seen better days, here, as in most of his films from the 90s, Eastwood is surrounded by other "name" actors, including James Woods and Dennis Leary, both of whom have enough intensity to keep Eastwood awake.