Music Box (1989)

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writer:

Joe Eszterhas

Stars:

Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Lange	...	Ann Talbot
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Mike Laszlo
Frederic Forrest	...	Jack Burke
Donald Moffat	...	Harry Talbot
Lukas Haas	...	Mikey Talbot
Cheryl Lynn Bruce	...	Georgine Wheeler
Mari Töröcsik	...	Magda Zoldan
J.S. Block	...	Judge Silver
Sol Frieder	...	Istvan Boday
Michael Rooker	...	Karchy Laszlo
Elzbieta Czyzewska	...	Melinda Kalman
Magda Szekely Marburg	...	Judit Hollo
Felix Shuman	...	James Nathanson
Michael Shillo	...	Geza Vamos
George Pusep	...	Vladimir Kostav

Storyline

Hungarian immigrant Mike Laszlo has done well for himself since arriving in the USA over 40 years ago after WWII's end. He is particularly proud of his daughter, Ann, a successful lawyer. Following the release of some secret WWII records by the Russians, Mike finds himself accused of being a notorious war criminal. He's convinced it's a Communist plot to discredit him and insists that Ann defend him in court.

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Plot Keywords:

looking at oneself in a mirror | lawyer | immigrant | hungarian | war crime | 

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Taglines:

As a lawyer all she wanted was the truth. As a daughter all she wanted was his innocence. How well do you really know your father?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

19 January 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mucho más que un crimen

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,381, 22 December 1989, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,263,883

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau wanted to play the father (Michael Laszlo), and were in contact with Director Costa-Gavras. Costa-Gavras also considered Marlon Brando for the part. Instead, he picked Armin Mueller-Stahl, who a couple of years earlier had said he would love to work with him after seeing his movie, Missing (1982), at the theater.

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Quotes

Jack Burke: You trust your heart, you gonna get it broken.

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Connections

Featured in The 62nd Annual Academy Awards (1990)

User Reviews

Jessica LangeMusic box

Jessica Lange is absolutely great in her performance....... her conscience is torn between the desire to know the truth and, at the same time, to save her father from jail and moral discredit....... at the end of the movie she ends up discovering that her father is really guilty of the crimes he is accused of........ Jessica Lange is really a good, expressive and beautiful actress...... it is a pity she is seldom heard of, at least in Europe..... I hope I can still see her in the context of drama movies in which she is absolutely excellent..... Armin Mueller Stahl performs also very well in this movie drama, although his role is more limited than Lange's...........