Callum Crane(Pullman), a manipulating lawyer(and thus a very good one too), is about to become a federal judge, his greatest desire of all. Now his life is like he always wanted it to be. One evening however(surprise, surprise), he has a brief sexual encounter with his new secretary(Gabrielle Anwar). Things run out of hand and she threatens to blackmail him. Meanwhile, a young man is released from prison...
So far for the plain and all too familiar starting-point. Of course, you just can sense that there will be some more to it than just this. But hey, didn't we see that sort of twisting and turning thriller before too(much)?
THE GUILTY is notable especially for its (good?)sense of humour and its anti-typecasting. In a way, it reminded me a bit of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS(especially the character of the gangster boss in this film). There are some rather funny scenes in it and a few unexpected turns, but it's not enough to make up for the many holes in the plot and the mediocre acting.
Bill Pullman was, in my opinion, not the right man to play the tough, wise-cracking lawyer, who's always looking for a way out. He overplays his character, but could have done this much better. I expected a lot of Gabrielle Anwar, whom I haven't seen in along time, but she doesn't get much to do(despite her big part)and really doesn't seem focused at all. Angela Featherstone(as Anwar's friend)is good as long as she doesn't have a big scene. Then, it's obviously that she 's not a great actress(yet). Devon Sawa(as the young man released from prison) comes off best, but then again, his character is nothing special at all. I also thought that there were many similarities between this film and Sawa's earlier FINAL DESTINATION.(though that was a much better and yet completely different film)
All in all, I found this film to be rather unconvincing. Anthony Waller really could have done better than this. With MUTE WITNESS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF and this film he certainly has developed his own way of filming, but he still has to make his first good film too. I was surprised to see that in neither of his films the acting was of a high standard. Certainly not bad, but not worth the trip to the movie theatre too. 6/10
So far for the plain and all too familiar starting-point. Of course, you just can sense that there will be some more to it than just this. But hey, didn't we see that sort of twisting and turning thriller before too(much)?
THE GUILTY is notable especially for its (good?)sense of humour and its anti-typecasting. In a way, it reminded me a bit of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS(especially the character of the gangster boss in this film). There are some rather funny scenes in it and a few unexpected turns, but it's not enough to make up for the many holes in the plot and the mediocre acting.
Bill Pullman was, in my opinion, not the right man to play the tough, wise-cracking lawyer, who's always looking for a way out. He overplays his character, but could have done this much better. I expected a lot of Gabrielle Anwar, whom I haven't seen in along time, but she doesn't get much to do(despite her big part)and really doesn't seem focused at all. Angela Featherstone(as Anwar's friend)is good as long as she doesn't have a big scene. Then, it's obviously that she 's not a great actress(yet). Devon Sawa(as the young man released from prison) comes off best, but then again, his character is nothing special at all. I also thought that there were many similarities between this film and Sawa's earlier FINAL DESTINATION.(though that was a much better and yet completely different film)
All in all, I found this film to be rather unconvincing. Anthony Waller really could have done better than this. With MUTE WITNESS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF and this film he certainly has developed his own way of filming, but he still has to make his first good film too. I was surprised to see that in neither of his films the acting was of a high standard. Certainly not bad, but not worth the trip to the movie theatre too. 6/10