A Murder of Crows (1998) (V)

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writer (WGA):

Rowdy Herrington (written by)

Release Date:

6 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

A work of deadly fiction.

Plot:

A disbarred lawyer takes credit for a late friend's book, which becomes a smash hit but the tables turn on him sooner than he suspected.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Lawyer | Murder | Acting Coach | Automobile

Cast

Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Lawson Russell
Tom Berenger	...	Clifford Dubose
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Elizabeth Pope
Eric Stoltz	...	Thurman Parks III
Mark Pellegrino	...	Prof. Arthur Corvus
Ashley Laurence	...	Janine DeVrie
Carmen Argenziano	...	Judge Wiley Banning
Doug Wert	...	Billy Ray Richardson
Nate Adams	...	James
Jeremiah Black	...	Bailiff
Derek Broes	...	Agent Manning
Adrian Colon	...	Detective
Gaelle Comparat	...	Thurman's Girl
Tara Crespo	...	Young Woman
Anastasia Drake	...	Clerk

MPAA:

Rated R for language, nudity, a scene of strong sexuality and some violence.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | France:U | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Crows Nest Films Inc.

Quotes:

Lawson Russell: Drink, detective?
Clifford Dubose: Nah. Never touch it. Makes me happy.

Movie Connections:

References The Warriors (1979)

Soundtrack:

Put My Faith In You

Criminally overlooked, highly original thriller

Really like this film, it's criminally overlooked as far as I'm concerned. Cuba Gooding plays a lawyer who gets disbarred shortly after he lets his conscience get the better of him and he moves to Key West Florida, hoping to start a writing career. Once there, he meets and old man who happens to have written a damn fine novel. Ahhh, I don't want to reveal more, but from that point on things get very interesting.

This thriller has a genuinely original plot and is very well written. The plot twist isn't easily spotted and will definitely have viewers guessing for a long time. It's fast paced and well directed by Rowdy Herrington, who's really a director to look for (made another little known James Spader flick that's very good as well).

I've always like Cuba Gooding and he does a good job in the lead, proving he can well handle dramatic parts as well (if not better) than comedic ones. Tom Berenger does well, as always, in a relatively small part as a tough detective.

It's a rare thing these days that a film, particularly a thriller, comes up with a really fresh and original idea and executes it well. A Murder of Crows is a suspenseful and thoroughly entertaining thriller that deserves to be better known.