A Murder of Crows (1998)

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.

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writer:

Rowdy Herrington

Stars:

Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Berenger, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Gaelle Compart)
Tara Crespo	...	Young Woman
Anastasia Roussel	...	Clerk (as Anastasia Drake)

Storyline

After a lawyer gets disbarred, he goes off to write a book about his experience. He meets a man who lets him read his manuscript. The man dies and the lawyer passes the book off as his. Just when the book becomes a big success. He gets arrested for the true life murders of the five lawyers in his book. He then finds himself, trying to prove that he is innocent of the murders.

---

Plot Keywords:

influence | innocence | innocent | not guilty | fish | 

---

Taglines:

A work of deadly fiction.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nido de cuervos

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motion International, Goodbros. Pictures Entertainment, Trilogy Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Dubose receives the book in the mail and flips the cover open to see the autograph from Lawson you can see that all the words from the book cover on the inside of the book are complete gibberish. None of them make sense in any recognizable language.

---

Goofs

When looking over Dubose's novel, Lawson, as narrator, notes that a "murder" refers to a group of crows, like an "exaltation of doves." However, an exaltation refers to larks, not doves. Doves are either a "dole" (or "dule") or a "flight."

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

---

Soundtracks

Put My Faith In You
Performed by Shane August
Written by Shane August
Courtesy of Lavender Hope Music/ASCAP

User Reviews

Good premise, awful accents and plotholes

The premise was really interesting, and overall I enjoyed it, with some major reservations. The good: Cuba Gooding, who's always good; the use of New Orleans, which was quite well done; and the art direction, which was terrific. I wanted almost every painting I saw on every wall. The bad: I had a hard time believing our hero didn't notice the AWFUL AND OBVIOUS stage makeup on his fishing customer and the keywest detective, who sported the fakest mustache ever put on film! I also couldn't believe that an escaped murder suspect--whose face would not only have been on the news every night, but also prominently displayed on the back cover of a book we are told is a runaway bestseller nationwide-- would just blithely roam the streets of the two places he's known to reside in without fear of recognition by anyone but the police. Please. Finally the HORRID southern drawls affected by Eric Stoltz and Mark Pelligrino were among the most egregious I've heard yet... and that's saying something.

But for all that, I liked it. Big 'ol plot holes and all. So if you're up to suspending a hell of a lot of disbelief, it's a fun movie. If you insist your movies make sense, don't bother.