An Innocent Man

I think An Innocent Man proved that whenever he decided to end his Magnum PI series, Tom Selleck was going to have no trouble in getting good parts. And not those that were a variation on his Thomas Magnum persona.

This is one really powerful film about An Innocent Man getting caught in the criminal justice machinery because of a pair of dirty cops, David Rasche and Richard Young. These two who are decorated heroes in the Long Beach PD for all the arrests they rack up are actually just putting out of business all the independents in the narcotics trade for the local organized crime boss and making a nice side living in the process.

They get an address wrong from an informant and they invade Selleck's home, shoot and wound Selleck, and then plant evidence to make Selleck out as a dealer. He gets convicted and sentenced to six years hard time and I do mean hard which it is for anyone who's not a professional in the criminal trade.

Fortunately he gets himself a mentor in old time con F. Murray Abraham who also has a score to settle with those two cops. Abraham teaches him all the new rules for survival in the joint, housed with men who are by nature incorrigible and don't play by civilized rules. Selleck does things that were against his old nature.

When he does get paroled from inside the joint Abraham quarterbacks a revenge scheme that Selleck participates in.

Besides those mentioned I should also single out Laila Robins who plays Selleck's wife who stands by him and Bruce Young who plays a violent convict that Selleck has to deal with in the joint.

An Innocent Man is one of the best made for television films done and should have gotten big screen theatrical release.

The movie talks an ordinary family man (Tom Selleck) who works as an airplane engineer and married a good woman (Laila Robins) . He's accused by two baddie policemen (David Rashe and Richard Young) as peddler and he's sent to a hard jail . There he is harassed and humiliated until that fury and revenge emerge . He's only helped by a veteran convict (F.Murray Abraham) framed for prison life.

It's an interesting film developed in two parts : in and out of prison . The best part is narrated into prison because of it reflects the astonishing existence of the inmates , with fights, threats ,murders and where rules the strongest's law . In the picture there are suspense, violence, drama , tension and a bit of action in the final confrontation . The picture obtained moderated success , it was not a smash hit neither a flop . Tom Selleck's interpretation is fine but F.Murray Abraham is better , he makes a terrific acting as the veteran con who teaches naive Selleck to take on risks and dangers of the gaol . Many of the film's prison scenes were filmed at the old Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati, Ohio , also known as the "Cincinnati Workhouse", had been permanently closed prior to the location filming of the movie and it had been built during the Civil War . It was closed due to being "inhumane, cruel and unusual" by modern jail standards . Atmospheric music by Howard Shore who subsequently achieved many hits and one Oscar for ¨Lord of the rings¨. Nice cinematography by William A.Fraker , photographer of various classic films . The motion picture was rightly directed by Peter Yates . The story will appeal to prison genre enthusiasts and Tom Selleck fans.

Tom Selleck is absolutely fabulous in this movie! Hollywood usually is very bad with jailhouse movies. They tend to go to extremes when depicting what it's like to suddenly lose your freedom and always neglect to portray the mind-numbing boredom, lack of privacy and constant noise that is for years part of a prisoners daily life. Having spent time in prison myself may make me a bit biased in favor of a movie where a convict actually gets revenge on the cops who set him up-so be it. I can remember only one other movie as good as this that came close to showing the reality of prison life and that was 'Short Eyes' a movie filmed in the Tombs in Manhattan-a place where I was a guest more than once. Check out the wonderful performance of F. Murray Abraham in this flick as the tough old con that give Selleck advice on how to survive in prison. Jailhouse movies made in Hollywood always seem patently phony to me as a rule-like some director's idea of what he thinks jail should be. This one is a huge exception to that rule. I recommend it highly and think you'll like it.

Riveting entertainment of someone accused of a crime that they didn't commit and how the system can be tainted or shuffled against you on a whim. The shocking part is there is nothing you can do about it. I suppose that is why it takes 13 years to execute someone in this country too. We want to be sure before we take a life. Good story, acting and plausible more times than not. The characters draw you in and you either hate them or root for them, but sitting still is not an option with your emotions in full play. This movie activates the emotions. There are plot holes, but we trade them for the raw adventure to be found in watching the movie and joining the characters. There are 4 movies that depict life in prison accurately. 1. American Me 2. Blood In Blood Out 3. The Glass House and this one. If you want to scare someone straight, there is the line-up to remind them to behave them selves now or fight for your life later. This movie also reminds us of how power and money can rule and how we end up serving those things. Then, they finish us off all the worst for it. Catch this movie without interruptions, have a snack ready, and be entertained. I did a bowl of home made double roasted sunflower seeds. I recommend this over biting your nails or smoking to relieve the tension found in this movie at times...Bon Voyage

I accidentally stumbled upon this while looking for something to watch and I don't regret it. I saw this on a movie channel on cable and man, who knew Tom Selleck could make such a good movie? F. Murray Abraham is excellent as Tom Sellecks Obi-wan, the one who guides him throughout the movie and helps him bust the cops that framed him. Muy Bien!