A female lawyer takes an accused wife-murderer as a client, but finds herself morally compelled to betray him one way or another.A female lawyer takes an accused wife-murderer as a client, but finds herself morally compelled to betray him one way or another.A female lawyer takes an accused wife-murderer as a client, but finds herself morally compelled to betray him one way or another.
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Miriam Langford
- (as Christina Baren)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
As usual Rebecca de Mornay put everything she had into her role as Jennifer Haines and she did a grand job avoiding the stereotypical lawyer role. Don Johnson also performed well in one of his best roles. I enjoyed Johnson in Miami Vice and Nash Bridges and I was pleasantly surprised when he convincingly portrayed a cool and calculated psycho.
The story itself is gripping throughout and Johnson really is scary in his role as David Greenhill. One moment he is all sane and has the audience feeling sorry for him;the next moment he is a total psycho.
I strongly recommend this underrated little gem.
As far as thrillers go this lives off the screen presence of the actors and their ability to convey anything. And maybe even make you root for someone you shouldn't. You should not root for a bad guy/gal, but since this is a movie, maybe you can at least partially feel that way without being a complete and utter bad person yourself.
Having said that, the end is quite gruesome and may take some out of the movie (maybe there was even an alternate take or end to this?) ... but it is true to what would happen in a situation like that ... and a nice throwback to what ignited all this ...
Slow but interesting thriller from Lumet. Film creates a kind of cat and mouse game between the two leads that's well written and fairly suspenseful. Rebecca DeMornay is tolerable in the lead, never quite convincing as the tough no nonsense lawyer. Much more effective when she's all broken down and vulnerable. Don Johnson however excels in his part, playing a slimy bad guy (who's, by the way, totally obsessed with himself) to a tee. Pity Johnson didn't establish himself as a major player in Hollywood.
Guilty as Sin is a bit slow but it's got a good story and some genuine suspense. You could do a lot worse.
Think of say, the great performances of say, Steve McQueen in Thomas Crown Affair, any actor who's played James Bond, any of the wonderful character actors playing wealthy men in movies like My Man Godfrey, The Philadelphia Story, Holiday, The Awful Truth, Meet John Doe, Fifth Avenue Girl, Bachelor Mother, You Can't Take it With You -- and Don Johnson is yet more believable.
Nothing's ever gone wrong for this man - and he relies on it, and he's very very smart, and very very charming, and he knows all of that - and yet somehow he IS charming nonetheless -- And you suspect from the first moment, there is something bad there.
I remember thinking when I saw Lisa Eichhorn in 1979 in Yanks, that I had seen someone who really and truly seemed that character - Don Johnson seems this character and it's a great and effortless performance and you should see it. (And if you weren't a fan of his television series, don't worry - neither was I - I never really paid attention to him - and wham, I'm now a fan!).
This guy has gotten to be a superb actor.
Did you know
- TriviaThe French title for this film was "L'Avocat du Diable" which translates into the English language as "The Devil's Advocate".
- GoofsJennifer Haines (Rebecca De Mornay) is having dinner with her friend, Moe (Jack Warden). He fills her plate with spaghetti and sits down with the serving dish. His plate is clearly empty. In the next two shots, he has a full plate of food.
- Quotes
[Moe is sitting in his desk, smoking while working. Suddenly, the door opens and David Greenhill enters]
Moe: Well, what can I do for you?
David Greenhill: Well, I thought I might be able to... help you out with that little biography you've been writing about me. You know, maybe help fill in some of the gaps.
Moe: Why would I be interested in you?
David Greenhill: 'Cause I'm a remarkable fellow, Moe. You've never met anyone quite like me before.
[David looks up places]
David Greenhill: God, places like these are bad for my allergies.
Moe: Well, I don't like to throw things away.
David Greenhill: Yeah, well, Moe, sometimes you got to get rid of the old to make way for the new. You know what I mean? I mean, let's face it. Old people, they just kind of clutter up the world. You know what I mean? They walk too slow and they talk too slow... and they drive too slow and they're always in the friggin' way. Trying to remind you about how things used to be. Pain in the butt, really.
Moe: If you're looking for your file, I... had it copied and put in the safe-deposit box.
David Greenhill: No. Not you, Moe. No computer, no fax, no Xerox. Mm-mm. You wouldn't have that trash in your office. Nope. It's in here somewhere.
Moe: Well, feel free to look around. I'll be back in the morning.
David Greenhill: Well, if you're gonna help me look for it, then this whole friggin' places gotta go.
[Moe turns to David]
David Greenhill: Damn firetrap anyway. See, the way I see it, you were working late one night, and you fell asleep with one of them cigars in your hand. Stray ash... fell off and caught those newspapers on fire. You were overcome by smoke. It's better than wasting away in a hospital day after day, don't you think, Moe? I mean, really.
Moe: What?
[using a cigarette lighter, David lights a newspaper, and uses it to burn every file on the desk]
Moe: What the...
[David continues to burn the files]
Moe: Crazy! Crazy animal!
[David destroys all papers everywhere in the office]
Moe: Damn crazy lunatic! What the hell are you doing?
[David knocks Moe unconscious with a phone book. The whole office is on fire. David exits the office and walk out of the building. The flames blow out of the windows and explode in the upper floor]
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $22,866,222
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,713,708
- Jun 6, 1993
- Gross worldwide
- $22,866,222
- Runtime
- 1h 47m(107 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1