High Crimes

Claire Kubrik (Ashley Judd) is an attorney whose relationship with her husband Tom (Jim Caviezel) is turned on its head. Tom is arrested for the murder of innocent civilians during a covert army operation 15 years earlier. Claire has been kept in the dark about her husbands past, but despite her doubts she still believes his innocence and takes it upon herself to act as his defence attorney with the help of a disgraced military lawyer (Morgan Freeman)

The film is both suspenseful and intriguing, with very fine performance from all the cast. Most of the film is quite interesting and even compelling at times, as the mystery builds and then as it begins to unravel. The surprise ending however, lets the movie down; when with more attention to detail it could have been quite impressive and really could have made the movie.

By the end you are left feeling a bit unfulfilled, mainly due to all the smoke and mirrors used to make the ending a shock.

6/10 should have been better, but it's watchable

KISS THE GIRLS stars Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman reunite in HIGH CRIMES, a movie that turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting. The previews made this movie look like a high powered suspense thriller, but I was weary about the plot and I was suspecting a thousand different plot holes. But, I was wrong. This movie is executed wonderfully. Yes, there are the usual thriller cliches, but once you get past all that, this movie is really entertaining. The acting is not all that bad either. Judd is great and Freeman is perfect as always (the only thing about him is that I am still a little hazy as to the gold earring that he totes on his right ear). The supporting cast includes Jim Caviezel, Adam Scott, the very hott Amanda Peet, Bruce Davison and Tom Bower. All of whom do an exceptional job.

This may look like just another one of those 'trial' movies, but this isn't. It is actually quite good if you just look past the typical plot and watch it. Other recommendations include A FEW GOOD MEN and RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. They are both a little different, but still go along the same lines.

This film is for people who appreciate good, old-fashioned suspense thrillers. These kind of movies are the kind people need to show us that looks can be deceiving and that people are not always what they appear to be.

HIGH CRIMES: 5/5.

I show absolutely no hesitation in recommending any movie with Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar baby, The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en), and this is no exception. The fact that I am an Ashley Judd (Double Jeopardy, Kiss the Girls) fan makes this a double pleasure.

Let's just ignore the fact that this film is a cliché, and sit back and enjoy it. It has enough actors that we love that there is something you will enjoy.

Besides Judd and Freeman, it has Jesus (James Caviezel) as the husband who is hiding his past, Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards) as the slutty sister, and it is directed by Carl Franklin (Out of Time, Devil with the Blue Dress).

Anyone who has watched more than a dozen movies can easily predict what comes next as the film unfolds, maybe even the ending, although that is the most illogical part for me, so it's not going to tax your brain. It's just another good opportunity to see Judd and Freeman. That's enough for me.

Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) is happily married to her husband, Tom Kubik (Jim Calviezel). The movie opens with her having sex and becoming pregnant. Then Claire gets a big surprise wher her contractor husband is suddenly arrested by the FBI and sent to a military prison. Turns out Tom, then known as Ron Chapman, was in an elite Marine special unit and is accused of a 1998 civilian massacre in El Salvador. She decides to defend him in military court and find out the truth about what happened. Claire puts her career on hold to defend him against trumped-up charges of orchestrating a civilian massacre while on covert operations .She looks to recovering alcoholic and ex-JAG lawyer Grimes (Morgan Freeman) for assistance but sinister plots are afoot. Tom Kubik claims another member of the platoon named Hernandez shot the civilians in a fit of rage and convinced the rest of the platoon to lie and say he did it. Everything you trust !. Everything you know !. May be a lie...

A thriller with suspense, surprises, violence, twists and turns, being based on the 1998 novel by Joseph Finder. Military coutroom thriller is average but does have Morgan Freeeman, who's always worth watching, that's why he steals the show. He's reteamed with ¨Kiss the girls¨ co-star Ashley Judd who plays spunky California attorney at law who sets out to prove her fella has been made fall-guy for a political cover-up and while James Cazievel is her contractor hubby Tom. Weird though, how the pert, capable but unprepossessing, Ashley Judd has picked up classic actresses' mantle, playing endless variations on a gutsy, determined resourceful woman with dubious taste in men. They're well accompanied by a nice secondary cast with plenty of familar faces, such as: Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Bruce Davison, Tom Bower, Michael Gaston , Jude Ciccolella, Emilio Rivera, Michael Shannon, John Billingsley, among others. It is a blandly anonymous coutroom potboiler which attempt to squeeze an ounce of credibility from some vaguely liberal sentiments. There's not much here we haven't seen a hundred times before.

Adding a suspenseful, intriguing musical score by composer Graeme Revell. As well as an adequate and atmospheric cinematography by cameraman Theo van de Sande. The film was profesionally made by Carl Franklyn, but nothing special, It's quite watchable, and utterly predictable. Carl is a fine craftsman who made his mark with ¨One false move¨ followed it up with the well reviewed¨ Devil in a blue dress¨ and the underrated weepie ¨One true thing¨; in addition, directing various TV episodes of famous series: ¨Rome, House of Cards, The Pacific, Homeland, Falling Skies, The affair, Ray Donovan, chance, 13 Reasons Why, Leftovers¨. High Crimes (2002) rating: 6/10. The flick will appeal to Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd fans

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Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd (`Kiss the Girls') team up again in this courtroom thriller, which is entertaining despite its worn plot and obvious ending. The reason it doesn't descend to a level consistent with the screenplay's unoriginality is the superior acting by the three principal performers.

Claire (Ashley Judd) and Tom (James Caviezel) are living an idyllic and romantic married life, trying hard to have a baby. Everything is going swimmingly until one day Tom is arrested and charged with murder and war crimes dating back to his military service and raid in El Salvatore years earlier. It seems Tom's entire identity is a lie and his name is really Ron Chapman, a former Special Forces commando.

Claire, who is conveniently a prominent defense lawyer, takes up his case determined to prove he is innocent, choosing to believe his denials despite the fact that everything she knows about him is a fabrication. She hires Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman) to assist her because until he became a broken down alcoholic, he was once one of the top lawyers in the military.

The film is paced well and balanced between courtroom drama and other related storylines like constant death threats, a dirty general and a mystery man. It is fairly standard fare, but the presentation is engaging.

Morgan Freeman is such a terrific actor, that even a trite script can't keep him down. He is wily and insolent as the washed up lawyer with a few tricks left up his sleeve. Freeman projects an unassuming power in his work, full of dynamism yet highly amiable. His interaction with Judd is wonderful, treating her with avuncular kindness and intellectual respect.

Ashley Judd is a fine dramatic actor, who returns to serious drama after an ill advised detour into romantic comedy (`Someone Like You'). Judd is razor sharp in this film, coming across as bright, energetic and passionate. She is tough as nails and doesn't back down to pompous military officers or thugs trying to intimidate her.

Jim Caviezel rounds out the cast with a strong performance as the accused. This is a tough character because he is so mysterious and duplicitous. Caviezel delivered a strong portrayal of an enigmatic character in `Angel Eyes', so he had some experience with this type of role. He handles the part well, appearing utterly sincere whether his character is telling the truth or not.

Amanda Peet gives her standard performance as Claire's hair brained and sex obsessed sister. Peet is no serious dramatic talent, but she has this character down and comes across as believably ditzy and concerned about her sister despite their obvious sibling rivalry.

This film doesn't fool anyone with its surprise ending, but it does deliver good suspense, a tried and true formula and some excellent performances. I rated it a 7/10. It's worth a look for viewers who like mysteries.