Newly released convict Jimmy Smith meets Gregory Powell on the off chance . Showing friendliness towards Jimmy Gregory suggests staying with him for a while and very soon they get involved in criminal enterprise via armed robbery . While planning a robbery their car is stopped by two plains clothes policemen and the lives of all those involved is about to change
!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!
Joseph Wambaugh's books are very compelling and you can see why Hollywood was very hasty to adapt them for the big screen in the 1970s . THE CHOIR BOYS was adapted a couple of years previous to this film and Wambaugh hated the big screen version of that novel so decided he was going to be in total charge of the adaptation of THE ONION FIELD based on his book of a real life murder and with hindsight one thinks the author of the original source might have been a little bit too hands on
As I said Wambaugh's works are compelling and none more so than THE ONION FIELD . The book gives heavy detail on the lives and history of the protagonists and antagonists and peripheral characters . There's an awful of ground to cover and you can get away with that in a large book but not so in a two hour film . Much of the detail is by excised for the film version but even so there's a bit too much in the way of characterisation . The film follows the lives of Smith , Powell and surviving officer Karl Hettinger after the murder of Ian Campbell . In other words there's a bit too many characters and incidents for the film too focus on in an entirely successful manner , a fact reflected in the comments where a common complaint is the pacing especially in the second half where Smith and Powell use every piece of small print in criminal legislation to beat the death penalty
Not to be too hard on THE ONION FIELD I first saw this away back in 1983 and I was very impressed with it indeed . Much of the strength of the film is down to the performance of one man , James Woods , an actor I don't think I'd heard of before but whose career I avidly followed and whose performances have never disappointed me . He's ably assisted by an ensemble of talented performers in the shape of Savage , Seales, Danson , Cox and Lloyd . A fine cast indeed but Woods totally dominates the film and with playing Powell you can see why Seales character of Smith was easily taken in by him .
!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!
Joseph Wambaugh's books are very compelling and you can see why Hollywood was very hasty to adapt them for the big screen in the 1970s . THE CHOIR BOYS was adapted a couple of years previous to this film and Wambaugh hated the big screen version of that novel so decided he was going to be in total charge of the adaptation of THE ONION FIELD based on his book of a real life murder and with hindsight one thinks the author of the original source might have been a little bit too hands on
As I said Wambaugh's works are compelling and none more so than THE ONION FIELD . The book gives heavy detail on the lives and history of the protagonists and antagonists and peripheral characters . There's an awful of ground to cover and you can get away with that in a large book but not so in a two hour film . Much of the detail is by excised for the film version but even so there's a bit too much in the way of characterisation . The film follows the lives of Smith , Powell and surviving officer Karl Hettinger after the murder of Ian Campbell . In other words there's a bit too many characters and incidents for the film too focus on in an entirely successful manner , a fact reflected in the comments where a common complaint is the pacing especially in the second half where Smith and Powell use every piece of small print in criminal legislation to beat the death penalty
Not to be too hard on THE ONION FIELD I first saw this away back in 1983 and I was very impressed with it indeed . Much of the strength of the film is down to the performance of one man , James Woods , an actor I don't think I'd heard of before but whose career I avidly followed and whose performances have never disappointed me . He's ably assisted by an ensemble of talented performers in the shape of Savage , Seales, Danson , Cox and Lloyd . A fine cast indeed but Woods totally dominates the film and with playing Powell you can see why Seales character of Smith was easily taken in by him .