“High Crimes”
low suspense
By David Germain
Associated Press

The title “High Crimes” promises major wrongdoing: treason, atrocity, offenses that endanger the well-being of a nation.

© Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises Clair (Ahsley Judd) has an emotional conversation with her newly imprisoned husband Tom (Jim Caviezel) in “High Crimes”.

The movie “High Crimes” has the dramatic punch of a parking ticket.
Like umpteen other forgettable thrillers, this military-trial drama barely scrapes up enough suspense to occupy audiences’ minds from opening credits to closing. There’s enough downtime in the action to wonder why you shelled out for this bland little movie as opposed to, say, mailing the cash directly to the studio and saving yourself a couple of hours.

Starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman, “High Crimes” is reminiscent of Judd’s “Double Jeopardy” from 1999 or Freeman’s “Along Came a Spider” from last year. Reminiscent in that it’s so thoroughly unmemorable.

Carl Franklin (“Devil in a Blue Dress”) directs “High Crimes,” adapted from Joseph Finder’s novel about a crack defense attorney who learns her husband is an ex-operative when he is arrested by the military for a civilian massacre in El Salvador.

Convinced it’s a frameup, Claire Kubik (Judd) jumps in to defend hubby Tom (Jim Caviezel), with help from a maverick expert on military law, shaggy-dog attorney Charlie Grimes (Freeman), and a babyfaced novice, Lt. Embry (Adam Scott).

Judd and Freeman, reuniting for the first time since “Kiss the Girls,” project an agreeable camaraderie that makes the excess of thriller clichés more tolerable.

Every few minutes, Claire and Charlie face roadblocks thrown up by the sinister military bureaucracy or threats from vengeful Central Americans.

They’re bugged, shadowed, assaulted, victimized at home and legally hobbled in the judge’s chambers, all with hackneyed conspiracy-theory precision.

The actions against them are so halfhearted, though, they add no real thrills.

“High Crimes” lumbers toward a painfully predictable surprise ending, which conjures up the question, “Could every character in this film have been any dumber?”

The film is at its most vibrant during Freeman’s early scenes, when his character fires off some amusing barbs, referring to Embry as “Embryo” and offering a sarcastic summation of jurisprudence in uniform: “Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. Wake up and smell the napalm.”

As Claire’s dotty sister, Amanda Peet stands out as solid comic relief. Peet, after a couple of failures as a female lead, seems more effective in smaller doses and may want to stick with the second-banana roles.

“High Crimes,” released by 20th Century Fox, is rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language. Running time: 115 minutes.

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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002