True Believer (1989 film)
True Believer | |
---|---|
Directed by | Joseph Ruben |
Written by | Wesley Strick |
Produced by | Lawrence Lasker Walter F. Parkes |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John W. Lindley |
Edited by | George Bowers |
Music by | Brad Fiedel |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $8.7 million[2] |
True Believer (also released as Fighting Justice) is a 1989 American courtroom drama written by Wesley Strick, directed by Joseph Ruben, and starring James Woods, Robert Downey Jr., Yuji Okumoto, Margaret Colin, and Kurtwood Smith.
The film is loosely based on an investigative series of articles written by Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist K. W. Lee on the conviction of immigrant Chol Soo Lee for a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder.[citation needed] The news coverage led to a new trial, eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from San Quentin's Death Row. Screenwriter Wesley Strick based the character of Eddie Dodd on real-life Bay Area defense attorney Tony Serra.[3]
Plot summary[]
Eddie Dodd is a burnt-out attorney who has left behind civil rights work to defend drug dealers.[4] Roger Baron is an idealistic young legal clerk, fresh out of law school, who encourages Dodd to take on the case of Shu Kai Kim, a young Korean man who was imprisoned for a gang-related murder committed in New York's Chinatown[5] and has now killed a fellow inmate in self-defense. Kim's mother believes her son was wrongfully accused in the gang-related murder. Dodd and Baron's investigation leads to a conspiracy among the district attorney, a police informant, and several police officers.
Cast[]
- James Woods as Eddie Dodd
- Robert Downey Jr. as Roger Baron
- Yuji Okumoto as Shu Kai Kim
- Margaret Colin as Kitty Greer
- Kurtwood Smith as Robert Reynard
- Tom Bower as Cecil Skell
- Charles Hallahan as Vincent Dennehy
- Miguel Fernandes (See Miguel Fernandes on IMDb) as Art Esparza
- Sully Diaz as Maraquilla Esparza
- Luis Guzman as Ortega
- Joel Polis as Dean Rabin
- Kurt Fuller as George Ballistics
- Graham Beckel as Sklaroff
- John Snyder as Chuckie Loeder
Home Media[]
The film was released on Blu-ray in the United States by Mill Creek Entertainment on August 13, 2019.
Reception[]
Strick's screenplay was nominated for a 1990 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Motion Picture. Film critic Roger Ebert commended Woods's performance for being "hypnotically watchable."[4]
At the time of True Believer's release, K. W. Lee told the Charleston Gazette he enjoyed the film "as fiction...but it was not a true picture. They have completely preempted the struggle of Asians."[6]
True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off television series, Eddie Dodd, starring Treat Williams in the title role.[7]
References[]
- ^ "TRUE BELIEVER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 14, 1989. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ True Believer at Box Office Mojo Retrieved July 19, 2012
- ^ Taitz, Sonia (February 12, 1989). "FILM; 'True Believer' Makes a Case For Idealism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ebert, Roger (February 17, 1989). "Reviews: True Believer". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Hinson, Hal (February 17, 1989). "'True Believer' (R)". The Washington Post.
- ^ Chung, Philipp W. (April 7, 2008). "'21' not the first film to whitewash our history". Asianweek. Archived from the original on April 13, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
- ^ Rohter, Larry (2008). "Movies: About True Believer". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
External links[]
- 1989 films
- English-language films
- 1989 crime drama films
- 1980s legal films
- American films
- American crime drama films
- American legal films
- Films directed by Joseph Ruben
- American courtroom films
- Films about race and ethnicity
- Films shot in New York City
- 1980s prison films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films scored by Brad Fiedel
- Asian-American drama films
- Korean-American films
- Chinatown, Manhattan
- Films produced by Walter F. Parkes
- Films set in San Quentin State Prison