Clichés of 'High Crimes? don?t detract from thrills

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"High Crimes"|ret||ret||tab|

Directed by: Carl Franklin|ret||ret||tab|

Starring: Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman |ret||ret||tab|

Rated: PG-13|ret||ret||tab|

Although in production long before the events of last September, Carl Franklin's latest thriller, "High Crimes," will make viewers ponder a great many things about war, following orders, military justice and the lengths to which some people will go to achieve their ends, no matter how ignoble they may be.|ret||ret||tab|

Led by a duo of actors Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman who have never put in a bad performance, and driven by Franklin's fast-paced direction, the film is by no means perfect, but it is engaging throughout. Some people may accuse the film of being predictable and clichd. Others may say some of the events in the final act don't make sense in connection with the first part of the picture. |ret||ret||tab|

For me, I enjoyed watching Judd and Freeman ply their trade and thought "High Crimes" used elements from films such as "A Few Good Men," "Courage Under Fire" and even "Silkwood" to pretty fine effect.|ret||ret||tab|

The story opens with an obvious flashback scene of a U.S. Marine Corps raid on a small Salvadoran village. We know something terrible is happening, we just don't know the implications of |ret||ret||tab|

it all.|ret||ret||tab|

Cut ahead to present-day San Francisco. Claire Kubick (Judd) is a successful attorney, happily married and in the middle of a high-profile case. She wins and gets splashed all over the cable news shows. Her firm hints they are thinking about making her a partner. |ret||ret||tab|

While happily Christmas shopping with her husband Tom (Jim Caviezel) one evening, her world is shattered.|ret||ret||tab|

A heavily armed FBI SWAT team storms Claire and Tom and takes them into custody.|ret||ret||tab|

Upon her release, she demands to know the charges against her husband but is told she's not entitled because this is a matter of "national security," and under military law it is to be kept secret. These are not the only secrets she's about to uncover.|ret||ret||tab|

For starters, Tom Kubick is being charged as Ron Chapman. When Claire points out the military computers must have made a mistake, she finds out they didn't.|ret||ret||tab|

Tom/Ron is assigned a military lawyer, Lt. Embry, who looks to be about 18 years old. When Claire learns the prosecutor and judge in this case are seasoned pros, she decides to defend her husband herself. Highly irregular.|ret||ret||tab|

Beside young Embry, Claire enlists the help of another attorney, a former military man who has successfully beaten the big brass before. Morgan Freeman is Charlie Grimes, who explains the situation to Claire by saying, "Military justice is to justice as military music is to music." |ret||ret||tab|

As her husband's attorney, Claire is now entitled to read the charges, and she's shocked to learn he has been charged with the deaths of nine civilians, mostly women and children, in the massacre we witnessed at the opening of the film.|ret||ret||tab|

While getting things together for the case, things begin happening to Claire and Grimes that suggest someone may want them to take the plea bargain they've been offered and sweep the whole affair under the rug. Tom/Ron who takes a lie detector test to prove to his wife he's innocent says the murder was committed by an aide to Col. Marks, who is now a general and wants to see to it that this ugly mess doesn't tarnish his brass.|ret||ret||tab|

To reveal any more of the goings on in "High Crimes" would be a disservice to the movie and the viewer, so I'll leave it at that.|ret||ret||tab|

While not as good as Franklin's two acknowledged masterpieces, "One False Move" and "Devil in a Blue Dress," "High Crimes" is a decent, entertaining and entirely watchable thriller.|ret||ret||tab|

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)[[In-content Ad]]