"True Crime" is a very good, if derivative film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. We've seen the whole thing before, but it goes to show that if something is well done and well performed, the viewer will become very involved in it. A rogue reporter, an off and on drunk, who is assigned a human interest story of a man on death row comes to believe in his innocence and must find a way to stop the execution. There are some strong performances by Isaiah Washington, Lisa Gay Hamilton and Diana Venora as well as Eastwood's smooth direction. James Woods to me seemed a little over the top, if only because Eastwood is so relaxed.
I have the same problem with this film as I have had with past Eastwood films, and that has to do with his age. Eastwood is 68 in this film; his character is still working - no mention of retirement; he's a ladies man and at the end of the movie he's trying to pick up a 20-something; he has a four-year-old or so daughter. I'm just taking a stab at this - the character is supposed to be, say, 10 to 20 years younger? One assumes then that there is a young wife at home - well, she's young for Eastwood anyway - it's Diana Venora, with whom I went to school. What's the story with this marriage? Is it a recent one? Frankly I'm surprised that Eastwood, who insists on playing roles he's 10 to 20 years too old for, would have tolerated a woman in her forties as his wife. Maybe in his mind, they're the same age. He was running through the forest like an Olympian in "Absolute Power" while he looked like Father Time; he had ropes in his neck for "Bridges of Madison County." Meanwhile, the film "Premonition" cast Kate Nelligan, age 57, as 43-year-old Sandra Bullock's mother and in "Postcards from the Edge," 56-year-old Shirley Maclaine as 41-year-old Meryl Streep's mother. These women evidently lived in states that allowed 14-year-olds to be married.
My point is, Hollywood can never get the ages right. Women are pushed into old age in their fifties and the male stars get to play 40-year-olds when they're pushing eighty. At a certain point, it becomes insulting. If this film had been made last year, I suppose Diana Venora would have been playing Clint's mother.
So though I like Eastwood very much and his directing very much and found this film compelling, I was distracted - as I have been in the past - by these little details. We shouldn't be expected to have to suspend reality with the ages of the characters as well as everything else. Once in a while, I'd like to focus on the story.
I have the same problem with this film as I have had with past Eastwood films, and that has to do with his age. Eastwood is 68 in this film; his character is still working - no mention of retirement; he's a ladies man and at the end of the movie he's trying to pick up a 20-something; he has a four-year-old or so daughter. I'm just taking a stab at this - the character is supposed to be, say, 10 to 20 years younger? One assumes then that there is a young wife at home - well, she's young for Eastwood anyway - it's Diana Venora, with whom I went to school. What's the story with this marriage? Is it a recent one? Frankly I'm surprised that Eastwood, who insists on playing roles he's 10 to 20 years too old for, would have tolerated a woman in her forties as his wife. Maybe in his mind, they're the same age. He was running through the forest like an Olympian in "Absolute Power" while he looked like Father Time; he had ropes in his neck for "Bridges of Madison County." Meanwhile, the film "Premonition" cast Kate Nelligan, age 57, as 43-year-old Sandra Bullock's mother and in "Postcards from the Edge," 56-year-old Shirley Maclaine as 41-year-old Meryl Streep's mother. These women evidently lived in states that allowed 14-year-olds to be married.
My point is, Hollywood can never get the ages right. Women are pushed into old age in their fifties and the male stars get to play 40-year-olds when they're pushing eighty. At a certain point, it becomes insulting. If this film had been made last year, I suppose Diana Venora would have been playing Clint's mother.
So though I like Eastwood very much and his directing very much and found this film compelling, I was distracted - as I have been in the past - by these little details. We shouldn't be expected to have to suspend reality with the ages of the characters as well as everything else. Once in a while, I'd like to focus on the story.