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| Directed by Clint Eastwood; Starring Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, Lisa Gay Hamilton, James Woods, Penny Bae Bridges, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Michael Jeter, and Mary McCormack |
That’s right, another recommended film. Eastwood once again proves that he is more than just a has been actor that tries to be a director (re Kevin Costner). Sure his career has had some really bad spots (The Rookie) but for the last seven years he has had a really good period of films. Starting with Best Picture winning Unforgiven in 1992, he has gone through films like the underrated A Perfect World and the remarkable Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. True Crime is another addition to this recommended line of films for Eastwood.
The thing that makes this film more refreshing to view than his earlier work is the comedy in the film. Despite the dramatic demeanor of the film, it takes the time on a regular basis to poke fun at itself. It reminded me of Bulworth in a weird way (though Bulworth was much more comedy than drama). True Crime comes off as a much better The Chamber (mentioned last week) in that both of them are about the attempts of one man to get someone out of death row before his time is up. Here Eastwood is a journalist that is given the story of a man to be put to death that night. Once he begins to do his research, he begins to find certain inconsistencies that others had overlooked. Sounds kind of formula, but it begins to break the mold by the half way point.
The best thing about this film is in its cast. In fact there is one scene involving Eastwood, Woods, and Leary that is the best one scene I’ve seen in a 1999 film. I also would like to point out a fine performance by Washington as the convict, his performance reminded me a little of that of Tupac Shakur in Gridlock’d two years ago. This would easily stand as being Eastwood’s best since Unforgiven.
