A Review of 'The Accused' (1988)

"I've been working in this business for 42 years and there's no way you can do that and not be as nutty as a fruitcake." ~ Jodie Foster

In one of the earlier posts, I had said that I would be putting up a review of The Accused (1988). Well, here it is. The review is not much of an exercise 'to write a review' but an effort to expand, the breadth of my writing. To see how well I can convey in words, what I liked and what I did not about a piece of creative work.

The Accused has been for long, a movie that many do not know about, or have caught it on TV and passed it without really giving much thought to its underlying purpose. It takes on morals of lawyers, the state and the general public and puts up a sincere effort to draw our attention to how manipulative the legal system can be. The victims of a crime can also be victims of deal-cutting lawyers, the jury and the entire legal process.

The movie is not a court room drama and does not look like it tries to be. The whole movie is based on a point in the legal framework that makes ‘criminal solicitation’ as big a crime as the crime itself.
The crime here in question is, of course, rape. Jodie Foster, playing Sarah Tobias gets raped. Deputy District Attorney, Kathryn Murphy, played by Kelly McGillis gets the rapists behind bars, but not for the rape.

On the assumption that Jodie who has a record, was stoned and drunk when she was raped, would not make a case much less a witness, where the jury would not buy the charges from a girl ‘who was asking for it’ by walking into a bar at night in skimpily clad clothes and flirting with the rape accused, she strikes a deal with the defence that puts them behind bars for ‘reckless endangerment’.

This is where the movie takes off.

When her conscience pricks when Jodie is called a whore by the same guy who jeered, clapped and encouraged the felony, and did nothing to stop it, she puts her career on the line to get the three men who ‘solicited’ the rape behind bars.

The movie is slow but not at all dragging in its pace, and sometimes it does not come across like a movie at all. It could be your average American 80’s drama series, but that is where it sets itself apart. The scenes just flow. It’s not the kind of movie that may pull audience into the theatres. The direction, by Jonathan Kaplan, cuts like a knife. It’s simple and therefore suave.

One of the most difficult scenes to film has to have been, of course, the rape scene. It is hard to imagine what goes through a girl’s mind at that time(“No…,” replies Jodie when Kelly asks her this in the courtroom). Many people (obviously sick, disgusting and downright deplorable, in my opinion) would find it titillating. And that is exactly what it is not, is the prime message the movie tries to drive home. The trauma experienced by Sarah Tobias, when she feels that the world has turned against her and the only person she could turn to is DDA Kathryn Murphy, has been brought out of the character so effectively, it leaves a lasting impression on the viewer’s mind. And this has so much relevance in today’s times, especially in countries like India where the real fight for a victim begins after the crime. Jodie brings a vulnerable looking yet immensely strong person to the screen and gives a performance of a lifetime, which deservedly won her, her first Oscar. Kelly McGillis, is herself a rape victim.

The movie is nothing great when it comes to being a movie. But the issues it deals with and the sensibilities it questions find resonance in every society in the world.

A simple movie that makes you think. And, think again.

My Rating: * * * 1/2
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