Presumed Innocent

Presumed Innocent is a 1990 American legal thriller film based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, and written by Pakula and Frank Pierson, it stars Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raúl Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield and Greta Scacchi. The film follows Rusty Sabich (Ford), a prosecutor who is charged with the murder of his colleague and mistress Carolyn Polhemus (Scacchi). Several studios and producers fought to secure the film rights one year before the novel was published. Producers Sydney Pollack and Mark Rosenberg acquired the rights in December 1986 and hired Pierson to write the script. After an unsuccessful pre-production development at United Artists, the project moved to Warner Bros., and Pakula was brought in to rewrite the script with Pierson before signing on as the film's director in January 1989. Principal photography commenced in July 1989 and concluded in October of that year, with a budget of $20 million. Filming took place on locations in Detroit, Windsor, Ontario, and New Jersey, and on soundstages at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York. Presumed Innocent premiered at the Fox Bruin Theater in Los Angeles, California on July 25, 1990, before being released in North America on July 27, 1990. The film has an approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its directing, acting, and writing. It grossed $221 million worldwide and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1990. The film was followed by a television miniseries, The Burden of Proof, in 1992, and a television film sequel, Innocent, in 2011. Plot Rozat "Rusty" Sabich is a prosecutor and the right-hand man of district attorney Raymond Horgan. When his colleague Carolyn Polhemus is found raped and murdered in her apartment, Raymond insists that Rusty take charge of the investigation. With the election for District Attorney approaching, Tommy Molto, the acting head of the homicide division, has left to join the rival campaign of Nico Della Guardia. Rusty, a married man, faces a conflict of interest since he had a brief sexual affair with Carolyn. As he had shown little ambition and would have therefore been of little use in advancing her career, Carolyn abruptly dumped him. Rusty has since reconciled with his wife Barbara but is still obsessed with Carolyn.