Rusty Sabich's (Harrison Ford) opening lines foreshadow the role that the audience will find themselves playing in Presumed Innocent, "I'm a prosecutor. I'm part of the business of accusing, judging and punishing. I explore the evidence of a crime and determine who is charged, who is brought to this room to be tried before his peers. I present my evidence to the jury and they deliberate upon it. They must determine what really happened. If they cannot, we will not know whether the accused deserves to be freed or should be punished. If they cannot find the truth, what is our hope of justice?" The audience throughout the film will find themselves as interpreters of whether or not Rusty is actually innocent. Although the audience wants to believe in his innocence, there are several scenes which hint to Rusty as being the killer of Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi). “The vulnerability of his character allows Ford to make mistakes and show weaknesses that would be unthinkable for make of the characters he had portrayed in the past. While we want to believe he is innocent of his lover’s murder and that he has truly rehabilitated himself as a family man, there is some doubt among the audience that he may not be quite what he seems” (Pfeiffer 187). The audience has no confirmation of Rusty's innocence even after he is acquitted (the viewer is aware that this acquittal is simply because of the Judge's involvement with bribery).
One of the first times in which Rusty's innocence is questioned is after he ensures that his friend Detective Dan Libranzer (John Spencer) replaces Detective Greer (Tucker Smallwood) who is originally in charge of the case. This could just be seen as a personal choice until it is later revealed that Rusty has had an affair with the victim. Rusty manipulates his friendship with the detective and persuades Libranzer to leave out the phone records that point to a relationship between him and Carolyn.
Another scene which points to Rusty as a suspect is when it is discovered that not only did Rusty have an affair with Carolyn but the relationship also ended badly. Carolyn was unhappy with Rusty's lack of ambition. Once she realized that this was the case she abruptly dumps him. Rusty is surprised and extremely angered by this decision. He repeatedly calls her and tries to convince her to be with him again.
The final scene in which Rusty's innocence is put into question is when he holds up a hammer with blood and hair attached to it. With no expression he goes into the house and starts to wash the hammer. This is the climax off the audience's fear that he has indeed done the deed. Rusty has the murder weapon. Soon after the fear of confirmed guilt penetrates our psyche, Rusty's wife, Barbara (Bonnie Bedila), admits to carefully calculating Carolyn's demise. Seen below is Rusty finding out the truth. The close up, intimate proxemics and tight framing indicate that Rusty is trapped by what he is found out. He can do nothing with the new information he has been told. He is caged by the situation. The lighting, half light and half dark, upon the dominant (his face) also shows that although the audience has finally discovered his innocence, he was always not totally innocent in the murder. His absence and affair, drove his wife to her mental breakdown. As he says, "I reached for Carolyn, and set off that insane mix of rage and lunacy that led one human being to kill another. There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment."
One of the first times in which Rusty's innocence is questioned is after he ensures that his friend Detective Dan Libranzer (John Spencer) replaces Detective Greer (Tucker Smallwood) who is originally in charge of the case. This could just be seen as a personal choice until it is later revealed that Rusty has had an affair with the victim. Rusty manipulates his friendship with the detective and persuades Libranzer to leave out the phone records that point to a relationship between him and Carolyn.
Another scene which points to Rusty as a suspect is when it is discovered that not only did Rusty have an affair with Carolyn but the relationship also ended badly. Carolyn was unhappy with Rusty's lack of ambition. Once she realized that this was the case she abruptly dumps him. Rusty is surprised and extremely angered by this decision. He repeatedly calls her and tries to convince her to be with him again.
The final scene in which Rusty's innocence is put into question is when he holds up a hammer with blood and hair attached to it. With no expression he goes into the house and starts to wash the hammer. This is the climax off the audience's fear that he has indeed done the deed. Rusty has the murder weapon. Soon after the fear of confirmed guilt penetrates our psyche, Rusty's wife, Barbara (Bonnie Bedila), admits to carefully calculating Carolyn's demise. Seen below is Rusty finding out the truth. The close up, intimate proxemics and tight framing indicate that Rusty is trapped by what he is found out. He can do nothing with the new information he has been told. He is caged by the situation. The lighting, half light and half dark, upon the dominant (his face) also shows that although the audience has finally discovered his innocence, he was always not totally innocent in the murder. His absence and affair, drove his wife to her mental breakdown. As he says, "I reached for Carolyn, and set off that insane mix of rage and lunacy that led one human being to kill another. There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment."
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