True Believer

Well, I'll go see anything with James Woods in it; he's that good. And he gives a typically intense performance here as an ex-hippie (well, he still wears a ponytail) lawyer who defends a lot of unsavory characters all in the name of civil rights. He is not exactly unscrupulous himself, it's just that by defending the rights of these crooks he is in some way still lashing back at the establishment. His personal views blind him to the larger picture of what he is doing. Then along comes Robert Downey, Jr. as a fresh-out-of-law-school type eager to start his association with the famous maverick lawyer. Naturally he becomes a little disenchanted, but then, at his insistence, the two guys take on a seemingly impossible case--that of a Chinese youth imprisoned for murder (wrongly, as it turns out). Downey wants to do this because it is a "good" case. The two heroes doggedly pursue the truth, unravelling enough plot twists and turns to fuel a couple of lesser movies. The details fade in memory (natch) but the fun is watching the two mismatched partners work together. But the film does generate a fair amount of suspense, and it does create an appropriately menacing atmosphere. And, of course, the good guys win. Not great Cinema, but a competent job and pretty entertaining.