Preuve à l'appui

Former cop Joe Paris (Burt Reynolds) was suspended for pushing his partner through a window after he shot an unarmed suspect. When criminal Jake Farley is founded murdered, Joe is arrested after finding evidence at his apartment. He's bloody, hungover, and can't remember the night before. Jennifer Hudson (Theresa Russell) is his eager new public defender who spent five years in the Peace Corps. James Nicks (Ned Beatty) is the prosecutor. Deborah Quinn (Kay Lenz) claims to be with Joe that night. She had contracted Farley to kill her powerful husband but changed her mind. He refused to pay her back but Joe somehow got the money for her. Jenny wants her to be Joe's alibi but Joe objects.

Michael Crichton as an IP generator is beyond reproach but as a director, he is average at best. This does not raise his average. The narrative flow is lacking. Burt Reynolds is cold which is good for his possible guilt. His innocence is not really in doubt but twists are expected in this type of movies. Russell overacts in a couple of scenes. The pairing is not that appealing. None of the characters are rooting interest material. This is a forgettable thriller.

Burt Reynolds' charisma keeps this mystery thriller from director Michael Crichton on an almost watchable level, against all odds. The most glaring problem is Theresa Russell's record-breaking non-acting. She has absolutely no rapport with either the camera or the lines she's delivering, and needless to say, the chemistry between her and Reynolds is non-existent. Now, I've seen Miss Russell give brilliant performances in the past (see her opposite Dustin Hoffman in Straight Time, for instance), so her so-called "work" here is nothing short of a mystery. The plot is actually less of a mystery, because the ostensible conundrum surrounding the Reynolds character seems constructed and isn't very well unfolded by Crichton. Reynolds and his old buddy Ned Beatty do what they can with what they have, but they're struggling to stay afloat on a sinking ship. This one is only for die-hard fans.

RETRO REWIND: Physical Evidence (1989)

"A slow-burn thriller soaked in shadows, smirks, and suspicion."

Physical Evidence flips that image on its head. Here, Reynolds trades in the smirk for a scowl and gives us a performance that's weary, wounded, and wonderfully understated.

Directed by Michael Crichton (before his Jurassic days), the film plunges us into a moody, Boston-set crime story where justice is murky, and truth hides in the shadows. Reynolds plays Joe Paris, a disgraced ex-cop accused of murder, worn down by the world and dangerously close to giving up. Enter Theresa Russell as Jenny Hudson, a sharp, no-nonsense public defender who's as skeptical as she is savvy. What unfolds is a taut, character-driven mystery that refuses to play by Hollywood's louder rules.

Russells acting is wooden to start and can be jarring but seems she seems to get into the flow mid-way.

There's no flashy courtroom grandstanding here-just quiet tension, doubt. The relationship between Paris and Hudson is refreshingly raw: professional, combative, and grounded in real stakes. No shoehorned romance. Just two people fighting a system that doesn't care whether they like each other or not.

Visually, Physical Evidence is drenched in noir stylings. Rain lashes against dim streetlights. Office windows blur with cigarette smoke. Everything feels like it's two shades darker than it should be-which is exactly right. Boston becomes a character in its own right: cold, corrupt, and cagey.

So Why Dig It Up Now?

Because this is the kind of thriller they just don't make anymore. It's a film built on mood, performance, and slow-drip suspense. Reynolds shows us what he's capable of when he sheds the polish and leans into the grit. Russell matches him beat for beat, and Crichton reminds us that before he unleashed dinosaurs, he knew how to build real-world tension just fine.

A forgotten legal noir that trades flash for substance and gives us a Reynolds we didn't know we needed. Moody, mature, and surprisingly memorable.

Author Michael Crichton directed this crime mystery starring Burt Reynolds as suspended policeman Joe Paris, who is suspected of murdering an extortionist. With no alibi or money, Joe must use the services of public defender Jenny Hudson(played by Theresa Russell) who has her work cut out for her, since, even though the murdered man had many enemies, so does Joe, making her investigation difficult. Can she save Joe, and not fall in love with him too? Forgettable film was originally conceived as a sequel to "Jagged Edge". When that fell through, it was rewritten to its present form. Indifferently acted and utterly predictable film has little to recommend it.

I picked this one for the Courtroom Drama aspect. It's only okay, though. Thought I had it pegged from the beginning but was wrong and when you get to the ending...you're like, eh. Couldn't be more average.