An Innocent Man
There can be little doubt that, outside of death itself, the worst fate that can befall a man is to be sent to prison, a world populated by the worst scum of society where gang rape, drug dealing, and murder are fairly common. The only thing that can make it doubly painful is to be sent up for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time for a crime that you were completely innocent of. This 1989 release by two time Oscar nominated director Peter (Bullitt) Yates depicts such a story, starring Tom Selleck (who, as previously discussed, has the charm and presence to overcome even bad material) as a successful airline engineer who comes out of the shower one day to find two corrupt cops (David Rasche and Richard Young) walking in to bust him for a drug deal because they got the address wrong only to shoot him down, and when they realize their mistake, plant drugs and a gun there to frame him up and bust him anyway. Much of the opening act is a little hard to take, with the cops waltzing in without an apparent search warrant and still getting away with it, plus the fact that Selleck is saddled with a completely incompetent lawyer (who doesnât even seem to be a public defender) who apparently wasnât in class the day that they were teaching trial cross examination techniques in law school, plus the fact that the dirty cops themselves are presented as a pair of hotshots who are really only lacking their own theme music (Rasche as the hothead âbadâ one of the duo seems almost to be doing an extended parody of his iconic TV comedy character Sledge Hammer). Much of that concern melts away once Selleck arrives at the prison to begin his stretch, as the first guy he acquaints himself with who claims that he can âshow him the ropesâ winds up being stabbed and torched to death almost immediately, which leads Selleck to wind up being mentored by a lifer convict (very well played by F. Murray Abraham), who has his own axe to grind with the dirty cops since they had apparently set him up too and put him away. The script by Larry Brothers doesnât shy away from the grittier aspects of prison life, with newcomer Selleck being threatened with black gang rape and having to stand up for himself with the help of a homemade shank, among other nasty aspects of life behind bars. Itâs also heartening to see a good number of quality actors here who show up even if itâs just for bit parts, including Badja Djola, M.C. Gainey, Peter Van Norden, Bruce A. Young, Dennis Burkley, Tobin (Jigsaw) Bell, Philip Baker Hall, and J. Kenneth Campbell, plus Laila Robins as Selleckâs wife gives a wonderful turn in her own right as she crusades to clear her husbandâs name and ultimately learns to toughen up as well, particularly in a memorable scene with Djolaâs internal affairs chief where she shows that a good lie is sometimes the best way to grease a squeaky wheel. Once Selleck is paroled, he learns that his nightmare is far from over, as the two bastard cops still seem intent on making his life a living hell, until he comes up with a plan to bring them down once and for all (with the help of intel from the inside courtesy of Abraham) which leads to a bit of a formulaic finish, but for the most part the film succeeds despite some flaws with the help of very good acting and a strong, tough screenplay that remembers where most of the movie takes place inâŚ
8/10