Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Sydney Pollack, Umbrella Entertainment.
The extraordinary power of the press, and the predicament as a result of reporting, is at the heart of this 1981 drama. Absence of Malice touches on the dilemma of whether a man is guilty until proven innocent.
Academy award-winning director Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, The Firm, Tootsie) is at the helm of this story of an ambitious reporter unwittingly slandering a businessman under federal investigation. When the reporter learns about his innocence, she decides to help him fight the authorities.
Paul Newman (The Color of Money, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof) plays the Oscar-nominated role of Michael Gallagher, who reads in the paper that he is the subject of a criminal investigation. Suddenly everything he has ever worked for is in jeopardy.
Megan Carter (Sally Field, Norma Rae, Places in the Heart) is the reporter tricked into running an untrue story on Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his supposed crime was committed, but it involves an innocent party. When the newspaper runs it, tragedy follows, forcing Carter to face up to the responsibilities of her job when she is confronted by Gallagher.
Carter is a relentless investigative reporter, but together they learn that the story was purposely leaked to Carter as part of a plot by the chief investigator. Gallagher’s life hangs in the balance as he and Carter try to uncover the truth.
This neo noir thriller in Blu-ray is engrossing, despite some ethical issues.
Ten-time Oscar nominee, Newman’s character finds his name being dragged through the press because his father was a Mafioso. His smart retaliation is satisfying. Field’s reporter character is stealthily original and likable. Two other performances rate a mention: Wilford Brimley, as a lawman who briskly takes command of an informal hearing, and the other by John Harkins, as a newspaper libel lawyer.
You could be the one winner of a Blu-ray copy of Absence of Malice if you tell us the year this film was released. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 22 March 2021. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 23 March 2021.
