The Guilty (2000)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Better Late Then Never

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I love a good courtroom yarn. A Few Good Men and A Time to Kill rank high on my list. But…The Guilty…is just that…and of many things.Sadly, the movie suffers from overkill and the very thing I look for in movies: a spider-web of integral plot twists. Only, The Guilty has, oh, I dunno, 56 different story lines. Too bad.It also made me have less faith in the already-mediocre Bill Pullman's acting. He was just plain awful. And poor Devon Sawa and Gabrielle Anwar – both of whom I loved early in their careers. They both should've gone places…but alas, didn't.To be honest, I saw this move a week or so ago, and it's already drifting in my mind. What I remember is that it starts off simple enough, but then quickly dives into multiple plot twists so convoluted that it's almost hard to keep up. Okay, not that hard, but it's so basic in its twists and turns that it feels so incredibly amateur, it seems like it was made by film students. Not good.Bad Boy Nathan (Devon Sawa) is released from prison, but continues to break the law – even though he feels "it's not his fault." Bad Man Callum (Bill Pullman) rapes an employee of his, Sophie (Gabrielle Anwar.) His wife's cheating, he's cheating. Nathan is trying to start over, but continues down a bad path with his deviant friends. And Callum's trying to be a Federal Judge even though he's as corrupt as the world views any given lawyers. In other words, the main leads aren't good people, so get ready to root for…no one.Mix everyone together in a blender with every conceivable cliché and you have this movie. John Grisham would even ask: WTF? Every "surprise" is easily seen, every corner forewarned. Only the very last twist in the over-longed film (108 minutes that should've been 78) is enjoyable, but, believe me, it's a chore to get there.It's good for the mildly curious, or fans of the staff involved. It's definitely a "leave-your-brain-at-the-door" feature. And a good exercise on what to avoid when you're attempting to make art out of the amateur filmmaker's vision.

I was watching TV late one night when I stumbled across this movie. I missed the first 15 minutes or so, but continued to watch it. I'm glad that I did, as it's become one of my all-time favorite movies.The story is about a sleazy, self-centered lawyer (played brilliantly by Bill "Independence Day" Pullman), who gets drunk and rapes his new secretary. She threatens to expose him for who he really is, so he hires someone to kill her. Unbeknown to him, he has actually hired his long lost son (Devon "Final Destination" Sawa). However, his son is actually a "good guy" and refuses to do it. He throws all the documents away, but his no-good criminal friend finds them and decides to kill her instead, as he needs the money to pay of a loan. The action and suspense is non-stop from here on.This movie has brilliant acting, fantastic direction and awesome camera angles. I give this movie 11/10! A must see for anyone and everyone!

Bill Pullman enjoys himself as the bad guy in this excellent, traditionally styled neo-noir thriller. Lawyer, Callum Crane in is line for appointment for a position as a federal judge, but just after his appointment he is accused of rape by a female colleague that he forced himself upon while drunk. Meanwhile, the lawyer's son, Nathan has found out the identity of his biological father, also Callum Crane, and sets off to the city in order to find him. Before he is able to tell his father who is he is, he is given an envelope and is offered money to take care of the problem; by killing the girl that has accused Callum Crane of murder.The story, despite it's relative complexity, unfolds in a manner that is easy and interesting to follow as a result of the excellent storytelling. The plot unfolds bit by bit, which serves in building suspense and also makes the film interesting as the audience is fed just enough to keep them interested, but not enough so that the film is able to become predictable; which makes for a very thrilling thriller.The acting in The Guilty varies from mediocre, to great; with Bill Pullman at the top end of the spectrum, and Gabrielle Anwar at the other end. That's not to say that she's particularly bad though; a lot of her rather insignificant performance can be put down to a lack of depth for her character. None of the characters in The Guilty are particularly well done, but the majority of them don't need to be, and the film is efficient in that it doesn't waste lots of time building up characters that are not central to the plot. Also worthy of note acting wise is Jaimz Woolvett, the man that plays Leo; who is undoubtedly one of the main players of the piece. Jaimz portrays his character with a great deal of strength and rawness and is absolutely perfect in his role. Jaimz Woolvett is best known for his role as The Schofield Kid in Unforgiven, and the fact that he hasn't made anything else of note since is a real shame as he has proved with this movie and Unforgiven that he is capable of a powerful and emotional performance.The Guilty, like many thrillers, features plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience hooked, but none are as amusing, well done or satisfying as the end one. The movie saves its best trick to last and the end of this movie is bound to put a smile on any viewer's face. One of my favourite twist endings without a doubt.Overall, The Guilty is a very good thriller. Unlike a lot of it's modern day counterparts, this film doesn't rely on violence or loud music to make itself worth watching, but rather on the more old-fashioned methods such as strength of storytelling and interesting performances from everyone involved. The Guilty is not a great movie, but as far as modern day thrillers go; this is not a bad example.

Reading all the above comments, both for and against I note that there was no remarks on the pivotal role of LEO, played by Jaimz Woolvett, this young man reminded me strongly of Gary Oldman, the intensity he brought to the instability and sudden rages of the character were first class, the emotional switch from bravado to weeping terror when confronted with a pistol to his head were frighteningly real.Bill Pullman, as usual gave value for money, his style of louche living and loose moral standards was excellent, young Devon Sawha seemed a little lost at first but with the more emotional scenes with his family and with the girl he rose to meet the challenge, he probably needs to move past the "pretty face" casting and look for more challenging roles. I rate 7/10