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
Rebecca DeMornay gives a convincing portrayal of slick Chicago Lawyer Jennifer Haines, who is looking to "feel her oats" as she puts it by taking on the toughest cases she can find. Enter the completely psychotic David Greenhill played extremely smoothly and surprisingly convincingly by Don Johnson.
He is a compulsive womaniser and has lived off of women most of his life. He is cold calculating but also incredibly charming and attractive to women. He is accused of throwing his wife from an 18 storey window and makes a good case for his own innocence. DeMornay though initially reluctant eventually decides to take on his case and here begins a nerve shredding game of Cat and Mouse that will ultimately end badly for one of them.
I really enjoyed the photography and the top drawer performances from the two leads, in particular Don Johnson who totally surprised me in his ability to portray a truly psychotic individual.
Stephen Lang's role as DeMornay's boyfriend is small and ultimately inconsequential in the film, Jack Warden's part is also fairly small but he does okay as an investigative aide to DeMornay. Ultimately though your eyes will be firmly glued on the two leads, to see how this plays out.
The ending although a little unbelievable does not detract much from the film which for me is worth 7/10
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.
"Guilty as Sin" is an absurd courtroom psychological thriller written by Larry Cohen and directed by Sidney Lumet. The plot is entertaining but exaggerated, and despite the evilness of the wolf Greenhill, his power of manipulation and seducing women and plotting schemes in advance are unbelievable. He is always one step ahead and the efficient but naive Jenny does not find a way out afraid of losing her bar. Hard to believe that the justice system and her law firm could not find a way out of the situations created by her client. Don Johnson has great performance and the music score is also good. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Culpado Como o Pecado" ("Guilty as Sin")
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