Reviews & Ratings for
An Innocent Man More at IMDbPro »

Page 1 of 5:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

25 out of 31 people found the following review useful:

In Peter Yates' film, bad cops become dangerous predators…

Author: Righty-Sock (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
29 January 2006

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The film opens with sequences conceived to present Selleck as a loving husband and a devoted airlines maintenance supervisor… His name is Jimmie Rainwood…

One night, a couple of crooked narcotics cops break down Rainwood's peaceful door...

Jimmy—who had just taken a shower—comes out with a hair dryer in his hand… He is shot twice by the anti-drugs cops who have caught a shadow of what looks like a gun… So to justify their error, they concocted an entire fairy tale planting drugs in Jimmy's home and a gun in his hand…

Rainwood ends up in jail…

Luckily, he is befriended by Virgil Cane, played by F. Murray Abraham… Cane was the character to keep your eye on… He is a 'schemer and a charmer.'

Virgil disagrees with Jimmy's sensitiveness as a straight man… This is an 'insane place with insane rules' that tests the human consciousness, yet survival will never be the same without some sort of sacrifice… A group of degenerate prisoners make life unbearable for Jimmy until he learns how to really fight back…

The film had its fair share of bloody moments and did not shy away from the nasty things that go on in men's prisons…

24 out of 36 people found the following review useful:

Very compelling

Author: lreilly2 from United States (blue state
3 July 2004

Tom Selleck is absolutely fabulous in this movie! Hollywood usually is very bad with jailhouse movies. They tend to go to extremes when depicting what it's like to suddenly lose your freedom and always neglect to portray the mind-numbing boredom, lack of privacy and constant noise that is for years part of a prisoners daily life. Having spent time in prison myself may make me a bit biased in favor of a movie where a convict actually gets revenge on the cops who set him up-so be it. I can remember only one other movie as good as this that came close to showing the reality of prison life and that was 'Short Eyes' a movie filmed in the Tombs in Manhattan-a place where I was a guest more than once. Check out the wonderful performance of F. Murray Abraham in this flick as the tough old con that give Selleck advice on how to survive in prison. Jailhouse movies made in Hollywood always seem patently phony to me as a rule-like some director's idea of what he thinks jail should be. This one is a huge exception to that rule. I recommend it highly and think you'll like it.

10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:

Clichéd , Contrived , But Watchable Enough

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland
6 April 2003

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Making a film set in an American prison is sort of like making a horror film. When making the latter all you have to do is keep the lighting low , hold the camera close up on a characters face , have scary sounds out of view and there you have something that will effectively scare an audience . With the former all you have to do is put an ordinary joe in a prison , surround him with a bunch of black men and have a guard say "Time for a shower you scum " and you'll have the audience biting their finger nails.

***** SPOILERS *****

Tom Selleck plays the everyman character of Jimmie Rainwood fairly well in this film and you really can empathise with him as he gets mugged by the home boys on his way back from the canteen , and the following scene made me aware of something I hadn't known at the time - American prisons are factionalised along ethnic lines . I know this now after reading up on it and watching documentaries on the American penal system which did slightly spoil the credibility of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION for me .

In no way should THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and AN INNOCENT MAN be compared of course , but this film is very entertaining and sometimes chilling as the prison clichés come one after the other . The white prisoners despise Jimmie for supposedly showing the white race to be weak while the black prisoners show what's in store for him by letting Jimmie witness a gang rape in the gym , and if you look like Tom Selleck you've got to worry about being popular in prison for all the wrong reasons . My main criticism about AN INNOCENT MAN is the rather weak ending where it's revealed that the cops who fitted up Jimmie are corrupt which lets the screen writers - just like Jimmie - get out of jail .

All in all a good prison drama . If you like the HBO prison drama OZ you'll certainly enjoy this . The day after it was shown on the ITV network a TV presenter even referred to it on a news feature dealing with juvenile crime

12 out of 15 people found the following review useful:

Correct film about a good man in a dangerous prison

Author: ma-cortes
12 July 2005

The movie talks on an ordinary family man (Tom Selleck) who works as airplane mechanic and married a good woman (Laila Robins) . He's accused by two baddie policemen (David Rashe and Richard Young) as peddler and he's sent to a hard jail . There he is harassed and humiliated until that fury and revenge emerge . He's only helped by a veteran convict (F.Murray Abraham) framed for prison life.

It's an interesting film developed in two parts : in and out prison . The best part is narrated into prison because of it reflects the astonishing existence of the inmates , with fights, threats ,murders and where rules the strongest's law . In the picture there are suspense, violence, drama ,tension and a little bit of action in the final confrontation . The picture obtained moderated success , it was not a smash hit neither a flop . Tom Selleck's interpretation is fine but F.Murray Abraham is better , he makes a terrific acting as the veteran con who teaches naive Selleck to take on the risks and dangers of the gaol . Atmospheric music by Howard Shore who subsequently achieved many hits and one Oscar (Lord of rings). Nice cinematography by William A.Fraker , photographer of various classic films . The motion picture is rightly directed by Peter Yates . The story will appeal to prison genre enthusiasts and Tom Selleck fans.

19 out of 29 people found the following review useful:

Excellent

Author: Terminal Madness (rpgforms@yahoo.com) from http://www.cinema-crazed.com
22 March 2002

I accidentally stumbled upon this while looking for something to watch and I don't regret it. I saw this on a movie channel on cable and man, who knew Tom Selleck could make such a good movie? F. Murray Abraham is excellent as Tom Sellecks Obi-wan, the one who guides him throughout the movie and helps him bust the cops that framed him. Muy Bien!

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:

One of my favorite prison movies.

Author: zeeboe82 from United States
4 June 2004

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is a story about a middle-aged man named James Rainwood. He has a great job that he loves, is happily married and is hoping to start a family with his lovely wife, Kate in beautiful Southern California.

One day his wonderful life turns up-side-down and inside-out. Two crooked cops, Detective Mike Parnell and Detective Danny Scalise, break into his home, thinking it is the house of a drug dealer due to their own stupidity in getting the address's wrong. They make an even bigger mistake by shooting him because James has just gotten out of the shower and he has a hair dryer in his hand. They mistake it for a gun and shoot him. After they realize they are in the wrong house, they plant a fake gun on Rainwood and put drugs in his house to make it seem like he is a drug dealer.

James and Kate don't stand a chance against the police and James is sent to prison for three years and he must learn how to survive in the big house, and having no street skills it does not come easy. And that's all I am going to tell you if you have not seen this awesome flick. :-D

I believe this movie is wonderful and totally under-rated. It deserves much more hype. I think the only reason why it does not get the attention it deserves is because a lot of people view it as a racist movie, all because Tom Selleck's character James Rainwood is harassed horribly by an all black gang in the prison, and along with the help of other white inmates, he learns to stand up for himself and survive in the world of prison.

It's common knowledge that whites are the minority in prison and if you are a white man who is not a member or a punk to the Aryan Brotherhood, you are going to be targeted and harassed by black gangs.

IMHO, this movie was what Stallone's "Lock-Up" tried to be. There are many things wrong with that movie. One being that it was completely unrealistic for a couple of redneck white boys to be running the yard. But Stallone must have feared that people would view his movie as racist, so he makes all of his enemies white....the prisoners, guards, and the Warden...there is not one bad guy in that movie that is black.

I don't know much about prison because I have never been there, but it seems like it would be rare for whites and blacks to be pals in prison.

Prison is a whole other world. An Innocent Man was not going to BS anyone either. It reminds me of Oz in a sense, because Oz was realistic too. Prison is a scary place. Like the character Virgil said......"It's an insane place with insane rules." One being that race is a big deal. If you can't even handle a movie about prison, I hope all of you calling it racist never end up there.

11 out of 15 people found the following review useful:

simple and realistic

Author: roy-budge (roy.budge@britanniahotels.com)
14 February 2003

an airplane mechanic gets accidently caught up in a bungled drug bust by two bent cops and is sent to prison. Tom Selleck, always calm in his roles seems to take it lying down at first, but when he is constantly picked out by the usual jail hoodlums and is still haunted by the cops who framed him, he can take no more. dont listen to any of the negative comments for this film unless you prefer the comic book jail films like Stallones "Lock Up" (1989) because this film is realistic and the storyline is simple and NOT full of hero prisoners on a revolt who finally get the president himself to give an official pardon. Tom is always great in whatever he does and you can be sure that this is another great effort from him. i love the dialogue...like.."now you dont have a problem with that now...do you white boy" Not your type of movie? i wouldnt bet on that!!!

9/10

10 out of 15 people found the following review useful:

An underrated prison movie-Selleck and Abraham are great.

Author: none-85 from Bethesda, MD
27 December 1998

One of the best prison movies in recent years. Selleck is very good and Abraham as the hardened con is excellent. Abraham has some great lines- " Don't you be turnin your neck at me when I'm trying to give you a solid." "Yea, he didn't know enough, did he." " You did a piece of work and you kept your mind."

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

A Great Selleck Flick

Author: MARVMOOCOW from Australia
28 February 2006

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This little under rated gem is a great flick.Witness the transformation of Tom Selleck from all round nice guy to bad ass dude as his life is turned upside down by two corrupt cops who make a mistake on a bust. This is a very enjoyable flick and well worth a look its definitely one of Sellecks better films and seriously deserved better treatment at the cinemas than what it did.If you've got nothing better to do on a rainy afternoon then this is highly recommended viewing,its not "The Shawshank Redemption",which is my favourite jail film,or even "The Green Mile" but it is still a great little film and a great time filler.Sometimes I wonder what Sellecks career would've been like had he of made a little film called "Raiders of The Lost Ark" perhaps his film career would've gone through the roof,he definitely deserves a better film career than what he had.

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:

Tense, Suspenseful - A Great Find

Author: mycannonball from United States
26 June 2008

This movie is a great example of a character thrust into an awful situation - a situation where you question, "What would I do in his shoes?" For that reason, it is very tense and suspenseful throughout as Tom Selleck's character tries to navigate prison life. I really felt for his character - his acting was great. Sure, there are some moments of cheesy lines and overdone composing and a bit of over-acting by the various villains, but for the most part, this is one of the better character thrillers I've seen in awhile. Selleck is great, as if the man who befriends him inside the prison. Can't find anything new to watch? I recommend checking out this little gem from 1989!

Page 1 of 5:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Add another review

Related Links