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IMDbPro

Music Box

  • 19891989
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 2h 4m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
Music Box (1989)
A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
Play trailer1:25
2 Videos
20 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Thriller
A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Costa-Gavras
  • Writer
    • Joe Eszterhas
  • Stars
    • Jessica Lange
    • Armin Mueller-Stahl
    • Frederic Forrest
Top credits
  • Director
    • Costa-Gavras
  • Writer
    • Joe Eszterhas
  • Stars
    • Jessica Lange
    • Armin Mueller-Stahl
    • Frederic Forrest
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 41User reviews
    • 31Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 3 nominations total

    Videos2

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:25
    Trailer
    Music Box
    Clip 1:18
    Music Box

    Photos20

    Jessica Lange and Michael Rooker in Music Box (1989)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl and Lukas Haas in Music Box (1989)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jessica Lange in Music Box (1989)
    Jessica Lange in Music Box (1989)
    Frederic Forrest in Music Box (1989)
    Donald Moffat in Music Box (1989)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl, Lukas Haas, and Jessica Lange in Music Box (1989)
    Costa-Gavras in Music Box (1989)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jessica Lange in Music Box (1989)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl in Music Box (1989)
    Irwin Winkler in Music Box (1989)
    Cheryl Lynn Bruce in Music Box (1989)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jessica Lange
    Jessica Lange
    • Ann Talbot
    Armin Mueller-Stahl
    Armin Mueller-Stahl
    • Mike Laszlo
    Frederic Forrest
    Frederic Forrest
    • Jack Burke
    Donald Moffat
    Donald Moffat
    • Harry Talbot
    Lukas Haas
    Lukas Haas
    • Mikey Talbot
    Cheryl Lynn Bruce
    Cheryl Lynn Bruce
    • Georgine Wheeler
    Mari Töröcsik
    Mari Töröcsik
    • Magda Zoldan
    J.S. Block
    • Judge Silver
    Sol Frieder
    • Istvan Boday
    Michael Rooker
    Michael Rooker
    • Karchy Laszlo
    Elzbieta Czyzewska
    Elzbieta Czyzewska
    • Melinda Kalman
    Magda Szekely Marburg
    • Judit Hollo
    Felix Shuman
    • James Nathanson
    Michael Shillo
    • Geza Vamos
    George Pusep
    • Vladimir Kostav
    Mitchell Litrofsky
    • Sandy Lehman
    Albert Hall
    Albert Hall
    • Mack Jones
    Ned Schmidtke
    Ned Schmidtke
    • Dean Talbot
    • Director
      • Costa-Gavras
    • Writer
      • Joe Eszterhas
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      After the movie was released, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' own father, Istvan Eszterhas, was accused of war crimes in Hungary for printing anti-Semitic editorials, and even organizing a book burning. When Istvan admitted the charges were accurate, Joe responded by publicly condemning his father, and disowning him as a parent, later writing that he never reconciled with Istvan, and refused to let him see his grandchildren right up to the point where Istvan died of natural causes.
    • Quotes

      Mack Jones: What do we know about our parents?

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Always/Music Box/Born on the Fourth of July/Tango and Cash/Camille Claudel (1989)

    User reviews41

    Review
    Top review
    Quietly effective and touching courtroom thriller with very good performances
    Jessica Lange is very good as Ann Talbot, a lawyer who takes up the task of defending her father (Armin Mueller-Stahl) against charges of Nazi war crimes. The charges are ridiculous to her at first, but she slowly begins to realize they might be true. Lukas Haas, giving an exceptionally bright-eyed and intelligent performance, plays Ann's 12-year-old son, who believes unquestioningly that his beloved grandfather is innocent.

    Roger Ebert wrote that the father, while very well-played by Mueller-Stahl, does not devote enough time to helping us to understand his character, but I don't know that any film could do that for such a person. Mueller-Stahl and the script at least offer suggestions and let our imaginations do the rest.

    I found this film, scripted by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Costa-Gavras, to be a quietly effective courtroom thriller (even though the idea of a lawyer defending her own father in this situation requires a high suspension of disbelief) and found the central drama of a woman discovering her father is, or at least was, a monster to be moving.
    helpful•4
    2
    • J. Spurlin
    • Jun 23, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 19, 1990 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Hungarian
    • Also known as
      • Die ganze Wahrheit
    • Filming locations
      • Budapest, Hungary
    • Production company
      • Carolco Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,263,883
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $19,381
      • Dec 25, 1989
    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,263,883
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 4 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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