High Crimes

Starring: Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel
Director: Carl Franklin

Rating: PG-13

Review Posted: 8.26.02

By John Teves.

High powered lawyer Claire Kubik (Judd) finds her world turned upside down when her husband (Caviezel), who she thought was Tom Kubik, is arrested and is revealed to be Ron Chapman. Chapman is on trial for a murder of Latin American villagers while he was in the Marines. Claire soon learns that to navigate the military justice system, she'll need help from the somewhat unconventional Charlie Grimes (Freeman); Claire fights to clear Tom's name, but gets too close to exposing a government cover up in the process. Now she must risk her career- and even her life- to find the truth.

High Crimes is another military drama that goes through the basic governmental thriller routine complete with an expected spin at the end. It’s refreshing to see a thriller that actually holds together all the way through. I felt High Crimes was a skillful and intelligent film. This is the sort of movie that has you wondering what’s about to go wrong pretty much right from the start. Even if you think you have it all figured out director Ranklin puts the film together well enough that you really won’t be quite certain.

High Crimes does the job, and I can't really describe it as either notable or flimsy, it doesn't necessarily bring anything particular to the table, but thanks to a remarkable cast of Judd, Freeman and Caviezel the chemistry we'd want from such a film works. High Crimes is a suspenseful movie that is a enormously entertaining.

High Crimes appears in an aspect ratio of  2.35:1 on this single-sided, dual-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. I thought the DVD presentation of High Crimes offered a flawless picture. Sharpness was great. The image also appeared crisp and lively. Colors came across precise and intense. Black levels appeared deep and thick, while shadow detail was appropriately filmy but not overly dense.

High Crimes is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The soundfield maintained a very heavy emphasis on the forward speakers. We don’t receive much from the surround speakers, bearing in mind this film is mostly discussion. Music appeared clear and distinct. High Crimes offered a moderate and simple soundtrack that worked well for the film.

Extras:

• Full Length Commentary with Director Carl Franklin

• 6 Never Before Seen Featurettes, Including "Liar, Liar" (How to Beat a Polygraph) and "A Different Kind of Justice" (Military vs. Civilian Law)

• Original Theatrical Trailer

High Crimes offers consistently good picture and sound plus a nice mix of supplements. High Crimes is entertaining and intelligent film that should work for a fairly open-minded audience.

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