# True Crime (1999)

### reviewed by
Akiva Gottlieb

    True Crime ***

    rated R
    starring Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, Lisa Gay Hamilton,
    James
    Woods
    written by Larry Gross, Paul Brickman, Stephen Schiff
    based on the novel by Andrew Klavan
    directed by Clint Eastwood

During the making of his film-biography of jazz musician Charlie Parker, BIRD, Clint Eastwood said that America has produced only two original artforms. Western movies and jazz. Everyone knew that Clint had and would continue to make his mark on the former (DIRTY HARRY, UNFORGIVEN), and with BIRD, he unforgettably touched upon the latter. After reflecting upon the two original American artforms, what was Eastwood to do? After UNFORGIVEN, the quality of his work decreased bit by bit as he decided not to take as many risks as he once did. His latest, TRUE CRIME, doesn't offer much in the way of originality, but it still provides the viewer with a solid, satisfying drama.

TRUE CRIME tells the story of Steve Everett (Eastwood), a journalist for the Oakland Tribune. Ev, as he is known to his friends, is an unscrupulous, womanizing former drunkard who's colleague (Mary McCormack) is killed in a car crash just moments after having a drink with him. In the aftermath, Ev is told by his editor (Denis Leary), with whose wife he is sleeping, that he must take his colleague's place covering the story of a convicted murderer named Frank Beachum (Isaiah Wasington), who is set to be executed that night. Ev's boss (James Woods), with whose wife he also claims to be sleeping, explains to him that this is merely a human interest story about life before execution. But Ev finds something fishy in this case in which Beachum was convicted of shooting a pregnant woman working a cash register in a small market. After a meeting with Beachum and a key witness in the trial, Ev is convinced that Beachum did not commit the murder. In the hours leading up to Beachum's planned execution, Ev ends up losing his job and his marriage, but never his composure.

For most of its 2-plus hour running time, TRUE CRIME is a cut above the competition. It keeps the viewer engrossed, wanting to know every detail about what's going on. But the last 15 minutes of the film keep it from being the riveting thriller it wants to be. The ending of TRUE CRIME is totally unconvincing, and makes you think that maybe this isn't the leisurely paced drama you were watching for the past two hours. The film's ending happens to quickly to digest, and makes you leave the theater unable to realize what point the film was trying to make. Maybe part of the problem was the fact that TRUE CRIME used three screenwriters to adapt Andrew Klavan's novel, and each writer seems to want to take the film on a different trip. Eastwood uses clever restraint throughout most of the film, but the ending seems to be too much to handle. But TRUE CRIME is a film definitely worth seeing, especially for a great perfromance by Isaiah Washington, as an accused man approaching death. I'm glad to see that Clint has decided to give his own American touch to a conventional storyline, because leaving this film in the hands of someone else would be a true crime.

review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com http://www.angelfire.com/mo/film

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