The Accused (1988)
…………………………………………………
The Accused Movie Review
The Accused is a 1988 courtroom drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Jodie Forster and Kelly McGillis. It’s such a powerful, effective and very important movie.
………………………………………………….
“You don’t understand how I feel!
I’m standing there with my pants down and my crotch hung out
for the world to see and three guys are sticking it to me,
a bunch of other guys are yelling and clapping and you’re standing there
telling me that that’s the best you can do. Well, if that’s the best you could do,
then your best sucks! Now, I don’t know what you got for selling me out,
but I sure as shit hope it was worth it!“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
A young waitress is gang-raped at a local bar and she hires a district attorney to present her case and prosecute the rapists. This is a very important story that needed to be told. It’s half-based on a real-life case, but is still an original story. The drama is so raw, so difficult and heartbreaking to watch that it remains a highly important, even essential film about the subject of rape.
The film painfully showcases the deeply patriarchal society that persisted for most of humanity and how difficult it is for a woman to defend her case of rape. It shows so well how women who are of lower class and reputation aren’t going to easily defend themselves in front of the court as most would blame them for instigating the rape. It’s just such a horrible, painful situation that was difficult to watch because it felt and it is so real. It remains a real problem for so many women out there and I would say that this movie honestly did for women more than any of today’s feminist pictures did.
But the main reason why The Accused works so well lies in its execution. This is such a strong courtroom drama because of its structure in particular as it edited and paced in such a way that it always remains an engaging, even gripping watch. I loved how we got to see the crime itself at the very end and although it was horrible to witness and obviously way too graphic for my personal taste, it was still essential in making you terrified and making you root for the protagonist.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Jodie Foster as Sarah Tobias is a revelation. She not only undoubtedly deserved her Academy Award for it, but she also obviously gave her very best role ever. She has never been better than she was here. She portrays a different character for her, a redneck girl, but she depicted her very realistically while also killing it in those tough to watch emotional sequences. She’s also very subtle and constantly believable. Kelly McGillis is quite inferior, but still she gave a respectable performance herself.
The highlights in The Accused are the scenes between those two women who are so incredibly different, yet they make a real personal, emotional connection and that was beautiful to witness. That’s why its triumphant ending was very much earned and never at all overly emotional. There are so many powerful scenes here, but in my opinion all of Sarah’s dialogue scenes stole the show, in no small part thanks to Foster’s magnetic presence.
The men were also very well depicted as these horrible, animal-like individuals, but I also found Kenneth Joyce a highly fascinating, very grounded character who ended up being immensely important to the case and I loved how they included him so well in the story.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The Accused is very weakly shot and not at all cinematic which is its only big problem apart from the graphicness of the rape itself. But the direction is solid, the dialogue is excellent and the editing is particularly impressive. It’s thus one of the decade’s most powerful and darkest dramas that needs to be seen by everyone as it’s so immensely important.
Although very difficult to watch in its third act, The Accused is still an essential movie about rape as it’s so heartbreaking, terrible and urgent in its tone. Jodie Foster absolutely shines in what is easily her very best, deservedly Oscar-winning performance. The reason why the movie is so terrific and effective, though, lies in its phenomenal structure which makes it consistently engaging, even gripping to watch and deftly edited and paced throughout. It’s truly is a powerful, highly important courtroom drama.
