Rating: 
Summary: Let's say it was OK !
Review: I've read the reviews from other people, and felt they were a bit unfair. I completly agree that seeing Clint half-naked isn't the best scene in the movie, that the plot is somehow predictible, and Clint should play womanizers anymore.Still, Clint is still a fantastic actor, the performance by Isaiah Washington is nothing less than outstanding. The movie itself has a light smell of the 70s, which remind the Dirty Harry days. I enjoyed this movie, I can also accept some people didn't, but I think it was good
Rating: 
Summary: A 'True' Dramatic Work of Art - A 'Crime' to Ignore
Review: If at first this film's plot does not grab you, then something else will. Basic plot of innocent man on death row, like we have not already seen that before. But that simple plot is not the only thing going for this fine work to intoxicate you. For one, you have Clint Eastwood who gets better with age and his performance is not just the usual high caliber work he does, it is beyond everything he has done. You could say how can that even be possible if he directed and produced it at the same time. It is not only possible, it is reality. This is the work we have wait to see since 'Unforgiven' and under his direction it shines just as and if not more brilliantly. But it is not all Clint, it is the entire ensemble ranging from the fine supporting performance of James Woods to all involved within the lives of both the reporter (Eastwood) to the innocent man on death row Clint believes innocent. And the prison portrayals of the staff along with the beautiful location of San Quentin add even more. But this movie only leaves one concern and that is "Oscar". Over the past decade great films have been blatantly ignored due in huge part to the current trend of studios to release what has considered to be true Oscar movies at the end of the year. And they are most of the time fashioned just right for the Academy. It is not those movies that are the problem. It is the stream of movies that are left ignored because they are not fresh in the minds of those involved thanks to a huge shadow by last minute oscar shots that could leave another work like this buried. Do not bury this one. It is not recommended that it gets a few awards, but at least recognition. Three things should be highly remembered at the next Oscar run: True Crime, for it's uncommon strength;Woods, for another fine supporting performance; and, one word, Clint. Clint not only proves once again that he still has that magic that gripped us in 7 year ago, but his performance this time around deserves a wink from Oscar again.
Rating:
Summary: The Operative Word Is True
Review: In True Crime, Clint Eastwood continues to deconstruct the roles he played in earlier movies. This is Dirty Harry without the psychos and mean shootouts. It's the Eastwood anti-hero dealing with the consquences of being an anti-hero. In other words, what Unforgiven was to his western films, True Crime is to the Dirty Harry movies, though not quite as good. Over the last month, it's the first movie I've seen that maintained my interest and I suspect this is largely because it's more concerned with its storyline than with focus group feedback. The movie is also much, much more than Clint Eastwood. Isaiah Washington delivers a wonderful performance in what has to be the most difficult of roles - playing a nice guy. And James Woods is masterful as the verbally brilliant editor. There are also musical gems in this film, like Diana Krall doing "Why Do I Care?" Overall, while not a great film, this is a very, very good one and I don't understand how it arrived and left with so little notice.
Rating:
Summary: WHY THE GRUMBLING? EASTWOOD WAS GOOD
Review: Judging by the kind of negative reviews here, some never outgrew Dirty Harry. Eastwood matured as an actor, director and artist while some viewers just got older (look in Eastwood's "mirror"). Eastwood cast himself as the grizzled, recovering alcoholic crime reporter Steve Everet whose obession with following his nose through a story leaves family and friends victims in his wake. Everet womanizes his co-workers' wives as part of his orgy of self-destruction. His editor-in-chief, cynically well played by James Wood, relates to Everet with a mixture of admiration and revulsion ... never pity. Their pas de deux works well, I thought. I would have liked to have seen more of this duo on the screen together during the years. Even in TRUE CRIME the two aging tough guys didn't have THAT much to do with one another. Wood had just a bit more than a cameo role. But was terrific in the type of role made for him. Others compared this movie to the earlier version of Jimmy Stewart's role in CALL NORTHSIDE 777. Yet I could not help see TRUE CRIME as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's THE WRONG MAN (Henry Fonda) decades ago. Isaiah Washington did a creditable job as the wrong condemned man, in what was for him an atypical role. I thought he played it a bit too saintly: criminal-turned-good-man; but that may have been Eastwood's directing. The interplay of the actors and editing were all very well done. Even the car chase, albeit simple (as compared to THE FRENCH CONNECTION I) was very well done. Did aside from me anyone else notice? The song, "WHY DO I CARE?" sung by Diana Krall was written by Clint Eastwood! It was a little out of place. But I guess this was an utterly Eastwood enterprise; with his real life daughter in a supporting role as his on screen child and his ex-girl friend playing his estranged onscreen wife. The young Ms. Eastwood is an excellent actor. While growing old has visibly harmed Woody Allen (re: Allen's recent "Small Times Crooks" one of the absolutely worst, time-money wasting movies in years) Clint Eastwood keeps getting better! And I expect that soon I'll rack up TRUE CRIME to savor many of the poignant scenes surrounding an innocent man the state threatens to permanently separate from his loving wife and young daughter. Good drama-action adventure by Clint Eastwood. A solid FOUR STAR movie.
Rating:
Summary: A RACE TO THE FINISH
Review: Okay, let's get two sore points out of the way: Yes, Clint is really a little too old for the leading role, especially in pairing him with such young ladies; and yes, James Woods goes way over top in his cartoonish role as Alan, the editor in chief. But, aside from that TRUE CRIME is an astounding work for the director Eastwood. The real stars of the picture, however, are Isaiah Washington and Lisa Gay Hamilton. As the doomed but innocent Frank Beecham, Washington controls his performance, making him both heartbreakingly real. No overacting here. He uses his face, his body, his voice to convey the hopelessness and fear of his impending execution for a crime he did commit. Hamilton as his wife, Bonnie, has a very demanding role, and her grip on this character is unbelievably subtle and intense. Some real tear-jerking scenes in this one. Hard to believe Washington and Hamilton were overlooked at Oscar time. Denis Leary is exceptionally good as Eastwood's boss who finds out his wife is sleeping with Eastwood. Leary could have taken this over the top, but he again controls the anguish, jealousy (both professionally and personally), and doesn't resort to familiar tactics. Bernard Hill as the warden, Michael Jeter as a key witness, and Michael McKean as a really scuzzy minister also do well.
Also, the lovely song voiced by Diana Krall, should have made it to the Oscar nominations too! Her voice reflects the hopelessness and despair of the film's script. The writers should also be commended for its faithfulness to Andrew Klavin's excellent novel.
A very good film and worth seeing.
IT MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY.
Rating:
Summary: A RACE TO THE FINISH
Review: Okay, let's get two sore points out of the way: Yes, Clint is really a little too old for the leading role, especially in pairing him with such young ladies; and yes, James Woods goes way over top in his cartoonish role as Alan, the editor in chief. But, aside from that TRUE CRIME is an astounding work for the director Eastwood. The real stars of the picture, however, are Isaiah Washington and Lisa Gay Hamilton. As the doomed but innocent Frank Beecham, Washington controls his performance, making him both heartbreakingly real. No overacting here. He uses his face, his body, his voice to convey the hopelessness and fear of his impending execution for a crime he did commit. Hamilton as his wife, Bonnie, has a very demanding role, and her grip on this character is unbelievably subtle and intense. Some real tear-jerking scenes in this one. Hard to believe Washington and Hamilton were overlooked at Oscar time. Denis Leary is exceptionally good as Eastwood's boss who finds out his wife is sleeping with Eastwood. Leary could have taken this over the top, but he again controls the anguish, jealousy (both professionally and personally), and doesn't resort to familiar tactics. Bernard Hill as the warden, Michael Jeter as a key witness, and Michael McKean as a really scuzzy minister also do well.
Also, the lovely song voiced by Diana Krall, should have made it to the Oscar nominations too! Her voice reflects the hopelessness and despair of the film's script. The writers should also be commended for its faithfulness to Andrew Klavin's excellent novel.
A very good film and worth seeing.
IT MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Eastwoods of the last years.
Review: Once i said I would watch any movie directed by Clint Eastwood, no matter genre, cast or plot. I maintain it. Eastwood has reached a point of his career where he has no longer to prove that he is good as his job. His critical success with "Unforgiven" and his still-alive popularity have converted him in one of the greatest film directors of all-time and -probably- one of the last living classics. The important thing in this movie it is not the so-called plot. It is deliberately unbelievable and stereotypical: a convict waiting for his execution and the investigation which may or may not result in stopping the execution, literaly, on the nick of time (Eastwood's character, Everett, starts investigating the very same day of the execution). This thriller plot is deliberately kept as much time as possible in a second term, while Eastwood focuses in what is the main interest of the movie, character description. During a great deal of the movie, the plot grows in function of the characters and their psychology. The important thing is not that an investigation is on the way, but what the said investigation reveals of the characters. Of Everett it reveals that he is, more than ever, an outsider, and that the main reason of his acts are to prove that he was right and all the rest were wrong, Of Everett's superiors, it reveals their mean -though they are conveniently humanised- thinking, it explores the problems of the convict's family, etc, etc. Add one of Eastwood's best directing skills -absolutely not a spare shot during the two hours of the movie-, a joyful sense of humour, wonderful performances by the whole cast, nice touches of drama and satire, sharp dialogue and one of the most thrilling climaxes I have ever seen. I don't care if it could be more thrilling, I don't care if the plot is schematic (it is deliberate) and I don't care if Eastwood has more critically aclaimed films. If not only to watch Eastwood at work again and succeed with style, I am definitely watching this again.
Rating: 
Summary: Insultingly Bad
Review: Ouch, really bad. The storyline is incredibly formulaic yet still manages to have HUGE gaps. Most of the "characters" are left totally undeveloped. The ending is so simplistic and glossed-over that I actually laughed out loud. James Woods is strong, but has little more than a cameo. I found the movie incredibly insulting and condescending on MANY levels. If I remember correctly, this film was box office poison when it was released; now I know why.
Rating: 
Summary: .
Review: Some of the subtlities of this film are nice, and as an earlier review points out, this is Eastwood continuing to deconstruct and honestly examine the concept of the anti-hero. This is a big part of what I found attractive about Unforgiven, and I enjoyed seeing some more of the idea at play in True Crime. However, these minor aspects of the movie are its only real strengths. I recall a criticism made about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Eastwood's last film as director) -- that it had a "TV Movie of the Week" feel to it. This stuck out to me about True Crime more so than 'Midnight' -- the direction often feels very flat in a very "TV Movie of the Week" way. The music -- oh my -- the music is *annoyingly* TV-Movie-of-the-Week-ish. It is cheesy music, and it is poorly used. The suspense factor of True Crime is contrived and the ending is gimmicky. Some of the humor, which was a bit unexpected, works nicely, but at times it feels a little too quirky for its own good, which was a problem I had with 'Midnight' as well. And when it comes to Eastwood, well ... his performance is entertaining, I'll give that, but I do admit, I have a great deal of difficulty accepting him as a womanizer, much less a profoundly successful one. You need more than a grizled voice to be sexy, Clint -- a tired old man is a tired old man, and would do best to accept his status as such. This was another one of Unforgiven's strengths -- its willingness to view its protagonist (Eastwood) as a tired old man with no remaining traces of any sex appeal whatsoever. True Crime, like 'Midnight,' held my interest through to the end, and did have a few rather interesting moments. But on the whole it is still a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: sad, sad, sad
Review: The acting was monstrously bad, and the story-line was equal parts predictable and atrocious. And the scene where Clint Eastwood was in bed with an attractive, 30-something woman was not only implausible, it bordered on the grotesque. Please save your money on this one and buy "Midnight..." instead.
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