IMDb user comments for
The Accused (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 8:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Index

73 comments in total

---

52 out of 67 people found the following comment useful :-
Powerful, Disturbing Stuff, 31 May 2000

Author: Bondfan-4 from Mamaroneck, NY

I saw this film with my girlfriend about a year after I graduated from college, where I had lived in the alpha-male, females-as-accessories environment of a fraternity house. While I know of nothing that went on in my fraternity that compares to the horrible events of this film, I was struck that some of the beer-fueled conversations I had with my fraternity brothers could have led to the same results with more likelihood than I realized at the time (or care to admit even to this day). Suffice it to say, I cried all the way home from this movie, as much from shame as anything else.

Twelve years later, I still cannot recall being as horrifyingly struck by a scene as I was during the rape scene at the end of "The Accused" -- and I definitely do not have the stomach to see it again. The movie, in my view, is exceedingly well-acted (Foster's Oscar was well-deserved) and well-told. It has the rare gift of touching the viewer viscerally for the entire duration -- discomfort being the feeling.

This isn't virtuoso film-making like "The Godfather", but at the same time I can think of no greater compliment for a movie than it truly opened my eyes to a new perspective that I was not mature enough to grasp on my own. I left the theater a different person -- how often can that be said?

---

43 out of 56 people found the following comment useful :-
This movie is about more than rape, 29 July 2004
Author: alexfiles from Texas

This movie is about more than rape. It's about societal views of rape and the objectification of the female in a patriarchal society. The actual courtroom drama portion is not prosecuting the rapists, but the men who cheered on and encouraged the gang rape of a woman in a public place. As you watch the movie, look at the image of the woman on the pinball machine; look at the friend who turned away; the boyfriend who expects the victim to "get over it;" the lawyer who thinks it's OK to cut a deal that removes a rape charge in order to get the rapists behind bars, without thought for the life of the victim afterward. Society is on trial here.

---

25 out of 32 people found the following comment useful :-
Jodie Foster Does Justice To This Role, 19 October 2002
Author: soranno from Las Vegas, Nevada

This 1988 Paramount release was the film that made many people take former child star Jodie Foster seriously as an adult actress. Foster won a well deserved Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a woman who is raped in a bar by a group of perverted drunks while everybody else in the bar encourages it. After the ordeal, she persistently seeks full justice for what she has suffered. Kelly McGillis, who had previously appeared as Tom Cruise's main squeeze in "Top Gun" lends credibility to her role as a tough DA. This genuine thriller of a film (which was based on a true story) deserves high praise for all involved.

---

27 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
Cleverly devised legal rape drama, marked by Foster's outstanding performance, 29 June 2003
Author: SteveThomp from Victoria, Australia

The Accused is a fairly workmanlike film about rape, its effects and the victim's pursuit of justice - this kind of thing was explored on HBO or made-for-TV movies constantly throughout the 80s and 90s. There are two things that separates this movie from those bland, cheap and moralising hatchet-jobs, though, and they are the graphic rape scene and Jodie Foster. These two components elevate The Accused into something much more powerful and intense, and infinitely more subtle.

An important facet is that you don't see the rape scene until late in the movie - most of the story is told in flashback and this has a curious effect on the viewer, particularly with how you view and 'judge' Sarah Tobias as 'victim' of this crime - however it also plays tricks with your perception of its aftermath, because you're seeing the processes of psychological trauma and justice in isolation. Many crime movies are constructed chronologically, so you can assess whether the police, counsellors, lawyers and so forth are doing a good job based upon your own knowledge of the crime and its impact on the victim. Here, Sarah Tobias appears a tawdry promiscuous bar-hopper first and a rape victim second - the director is challenging you to confront your own prejudices and presumptions which he has tickled to the surface earlier in the movie, a very clever technique.

The rape scene is necessarily graphic. It does not appear as tittilation (I'd be questioning your own sensibilities if you thought it did) but as a punch in the face for those who have written off Sarah Tobias as a drunken slut who probably got a little more than she bargained for. The moralists might still claim that's all she was, but that's all moralists ever do. The power in the character comes wholly from the subtlety and versatility of Jodie Foster as an actress: diminutive, steely-eyed, so determined and angry but also so frightened, nervous and out of her depth. They are the same contradictions that appear a couple of years later in Clarice Starling, although Sarah Tobias lacks Starling's control and articulation. There is little doubt that Foster is one of the finest actresses of our time - she carried this movie almost entirely and thoroughly deserved the best actress Oscar it brought her.

---

12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Not that much of a movie... but Foster's performance wins it all., 28 March 2006

Author: shanfloyd from India

Perfectly knowing that a lot of people would get inspired, personally relate or cite examples from this film, there is no reason to deny that except for the rape victim Sarah Tobias, all the other main characters, even attorney Kathryn Murphy, are written blatantly as stereotypical as they can be. Same can be said about the atmosphere, circumstances and the participators of the incident. The screenwriters have played only one masterstroke by showing the whole rape incident much later in a flashback, which perhaps helps us to relate better to the victim's emotions.

However predictable and blunt the film appears in its formation, it delivers it message right with the help of the outstanding (and Oscar-winning) performance of Jodie Foster. She just plays her part with so much passion that sometimes it would seem that she really IS the victim. I wonder how she could get such a driving force for her role which is so powerful and vengeful, yet so helpless and fragile. It is the performance of her career, Clarice Sterling doesn't even come in comparison. Her job in this film should be treated as educational material.

---

8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Amazing Performances Raise Rough Film., 6 July 2002
Author: tfrizzell from United States

One of the roughest films ever produced that is pure misery to sit through due to its realism and Jodie Foster's striking Oscar-winning performance. Foster stars as a sexual victim who tries to get prison sentences imposed upon the men who cheered on her gang rape at a sleazy roadhouse. Foster is far from being an angel herself and every little thing in her past seems to come back and haunt her. A great supporting turn from Kelly McGillis (who plays Foster's lawyer) just adds to Foster's show-stopping role. Not a film I love, but a good film that displays the seemingly ungodly cinematic talents of Jodie Foster. 4 stars out of 5.

---

8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Kind of TV-movie-ish, 17 March 1999

Author: David Neilson (grsff@stthomasu.ca) from Fredericton, New Brunswick

Jodie Foster's performance is good and the gang rape scene at the end of the film is horrific, but the whole movie has the unfortunate feel of a made-for-TV movie. As Jarvis Cocker of Pulp sang, "A movie made for TV, with bad dialogue, bad acting, and no interest. Along with no story and no sex."

Actually, I don't feel the movie was THAT uneventful (I just wanted to squeeze in the Pulp reference, to tell you the truth.) But the difficult subject matter is rendered tame with a boring court case and lots of "You can't win this trial!" dialogue between Kelly McGillis and her bosses. What's worse, the conclusion of the case of the case is never in doubt. Yawn.

The movie is best when it focuses on how Sarah reacts to the rape. She is a fragile woman who acts braver than she is, and her struggle with the rape is rendered clearly and plainly on Foster's face and in her mannerisms. The scene in the record store is uncomfortable and disconcerting, as it should be.

McGillis, though, isn't believable as the prosecutor. She is too bland, too unconvincing; she seems like a calculated attempt at a strong woman character. She never exists as anything more than "the lawyer."

This could have been a very powerful film, one that conveys the pain and anguish of such a terrible crime. As it is, I had to settle for a few powerful moments and some toothless filler.

---

20 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
No Male Bashing Took Place in this movie, 3 November 2004
Author: gamesoonly from Chicago, Il

I was appalled by one reviewers comments on this moving stating that a rape victim "got what she deserved". NO one Woman or man) deserves to be raped, violated or harmed just because they were at the wrong place.

This movie is based on a true story, and the actors were very moving. People make mistakes, being a PERSON that may be upset and choose to behave in a mannor not appropriately, yet when that Person chooses to stop and say NO, then No is it. No, Stop, Don't, these words do not mean, well, I ask for it. Anyone who thinks otherwise, I feel sorry for because they are sad, lonely and deprived of self worth.

Jodi Foster Is a great actress and put's all her strength in her roles. She is very talented and she and Kelly M. made this movie. Hopefully the person that had to endure this horrid act, is going on, with strenght and success.

---

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
There but not really, 20 May 2007

Author: Pushkar Purohit

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I watched this movie thinking of the Oscar it received for Jodie Foster. And mark my words that was the only thing that was good in this movie.

The theme of this movie was simple - a girl is gang-raped in a bar while the convicts escape the complete term of crime by plea-bargaining their charge down to "reckless endangerment". But the victim is furious about this judgement and wants the ones who cheered on this crime to be brought to justice.

The story is typical and pretty much predictable. Over emphasis is given to the emotional drama than to the court room buildup. During trial it looked as if the defense lawyers were not the least bit interested in protecting their clients' interests - this part which should have been the essence of the movie has been completely neglected. There are few hitches as to how the attorney became aware of the fact that the guy playing on the video machine was the one who called the police. Too much of coincidence and assumed facts have ruined the movie. The only positive parts of this movie are the characters portrayed by Jodie Foster and Kelly McGills.

Try at your own risk - worth watching for Jodie Foster performance!

---

6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Jodie Foster stands out; not much else to recommend it, 6 August 2003
Author: Vibiana from Kansas, U.S.A.

On 6 March 1983, a woman named Cheryl Araujo was gang-raped by four men on a pool table at Big Dan's Tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A number of men in the bar were cheering the attackers on and after the victim escaped into the street, they continued drinking and joking about the incident.

Ms. Araujo, 21, and all four of her assailants were Portuguese, a major ethnicity in former New England "mill towns" like New Bedford. The Portuguese community sided with its errant sons, rather than their victim, and Cheryl Araujo was basically driven out of town by the animosity of her neighbors. She was killed in an automobile accident in Florida in 1986, leaving behind two children.

This film was loosely based on the Araujo case. Several of Jodie Foster's scenes were so powerful they nearly brought me to tears -- specifically, the scene where she confronts lawyer Kelly McGillis in the latter's apartment during a dinner party; her courtroom testimony; and the horrifying rape scene.

Kelly McGillis seemed to be sleepwalking through this entire film, with only a few moments when she roused herself a bit, but not enough to help. Even so, she appeared more sensitive than the volunteer from the rape crisis center, who stood NEXT TO the ER doctor during the post-assault pelvic exam. If I had been on that table, I'd have wrenched a foot out of the stirrups and kicked her. A woman who has just been gang raped doesn't need one more person invading her privacy.

I agree with an earlier poster who noted the difficult roles of the "cheer and clap" trio. It must have been extremely challenging for a guy who has any sensitivity at all about women to convincingly portray the kind of jerks those three were. My hat's off to all three of them.

---

---

Page 1 of 8:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Amazon.com summary
Ratings	Awards	Newsgroup reviews
External reviews	Parents Guide	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user comments	Your vote history