True Crime (1999)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

19 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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:

Reporter | Execution | Death Row | Car Accident | Editor

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:

UK:15 | Spain:13 | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:14 | 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:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When picking the lock to Michell's door, it is a full steel door in a street, but when he enters he comes in through a glass door from a backyard.

Quotes:

Alan Mann: Look, if he comes to me for your ass, I'm going to have to give it to him. Then you'll just be a hole, with no ass around it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hamlet (2000)

Soundtrack:

Little Drummer Boy

Unfocused

There is a good movie in here someplace trying to get out. The main problem is a lack of focus. Is it a character study of an unlikable guy? Is it a murder mystery? Is it a polemic against capital punishment? The answer to all three is "yes." As a result, it does all of them reasonably well, but none of them as well as it might. I will give Eastwood credit for taking on a character who is so difficult to like. Of course, I must join the legions on IMDb decrying -- and laughing at -- Clint for making his character a ladies man. Maybe if he had been hitting on 55 year olds instead of hot 30 years olds it would have been more credible -- and less distasteful. But as a screed against the death penalty this movie is effective, though the deck is stacked because the accused is innocent as well as likable.