The Thin Blue Lie

It's unfortunate that the story's author found it expedient to write that his hero-reporter began exposing police torture and framing of innocent people by solving the racially motivated arson murder of a Hispanic family in Philadelphia. The true facts of that case, which was actually solved by ATF special agents, are detailed at length in a book titled "Very Special Agents" by James Moore (Pocket Books, 1997; reprinted by the University of Illinois Press, 2001).Reporter Jonathan Neumann did write about this case for Philadelphia newspapers but all of his facts came from ATF reports and the trial of homicide detectives convicted of framing the man they accused of the crime in order to please their superiors and protect a local politician. As a result of the ATF investigation, the victim whom detectives framed was freed and the detectives were sentenced to Federal prison for terms exactly matching the years their victim had served. So much for Helfgott's story "based on true facts." It'd also be noice if, amidst all his awards, reporter Jonathan Neumann had the integrity to correct this phony aspect of the story. Oh well, maybe journalistic integrity is elastic, like that of the detectives in this film.

People couldn't wait for Rizzo to be elected mayor of Philadelphia. He was a popular, inarticulate, authoritarian Chief of Police. (He's the chief that Sidney Poitier talks to on the phone in "In The Heat of the Night.") The city had become positively dangerous by the early 1970s. I lived there at the time and was repeatedly burglarized, as some of my friends were repeatedly raped (on campus at the University of Pennsylvania, and in their dorm rooms too). The liquor store I patronized had bullet holes in its windows. Most shop keepers in my neighborhood either carried pistols in their belts or kept them hidden under the counter. It was like Dodge City without Wyatt Earp. So Rizzo was elected. And, as promised, he reduced the crime rate, although the streets never really became safe again. He reduced the crime rate in two ways. One -- and I'm guessing at this -- is by bringing pressure on his police officers not to officially report crimes brought to their attention. I'm guessing that this is true because the process of recording or not recording index crimes according to political circumstances is universal. It can affect the number of crimes one way or another by forty percent or more. The second way, as shown in this film, is simply by permitting the already existing violence by the police force to increase unchecked. Clobber them. And yet the film disappoints. Rob Morrow is an interesting actor, and Paul Sorvino does fine as Frank Rizzo, one of whose first acts as mayor was to appoint his brother as head of the Fire Department. ("It's a total surprise!" said the delighted brother at the time.) But that's about it as far as the film's virtues go. It's a rather low-budget "All the President's Men," without any of that film's strong points. The script is done pretty much by the numbers. The direction is poor in many respects, including camera placement. A scene involving a conversation between Morrow and another character seems to have been shot from across the street, so there are constantly vehicles passing between us and them, which is unnecessary and annoying. The dialogue is mundane. There are hints of past evildoings that sound like made-up threats. If Lumet had got hold of this, things might have happened. As it is, well -- if there's nothing else on, and you don't expect too much....

I live in Philadelphia and remember the real events well. I thought that this movie was a great portrayal of those events and of how living in Philadelphia and dealing with the Mayor Rizzo Gestapo was at that time, kept me interested all the way through.

One of the best made for TV movies ever. The story revolves around a new reporter (Rob Morrow) for The Philadelphia Examiner who senses police corruption. He put his life at risk in the investigation along with Randy Quaid's. Excellent performances throughout and well edited and directed. It is a movie which should be watched, especially those who think that a safe city should be sought by any means.

A very good film.

Based upon actual events, this chilling tale explains how easy it is for power to corrupt and how society likes to look the other way.

Thank goodness for investigative journalists like Johnathan Neumann.

Great performance by Rob Morrow with support from Quaid and a nice little cameo by Al Waxman too.

It is impossible to watch this film and not realise what a great actor Paul Sorvino is. His portrayal of Mayor Rizzo is perfect.

8/10.