Cacique-Borja, Bad News

Bad News

Presumed innocence is a great thriller, with many twists and turns that leave the audience thinking about the protagonist actual innocence. Presumed innocence is “one of the deepest” movies that Harrison Ford has played in, and consequently of a different caliber from his normal action packed films (Pfeiffer 187). What makes the movie so thrilling is the pondering that the audience does, when the responsible for the act is finally revealed and no justice can be done because there is no way to convict two people for the same crime. The evidence for and against Sabich plays a tug of war during the movie but in three scenes Sabich’s innocence is undermined.

The first scene where Rusty Sabich presumption of innocence is undermined is when Rusty fails to run the finger prints that his police officer friend asked for. The finger prints are a key piece to determining the killer and his inaptitude to run the prints put Sabich’s innocence into question. During this scene, Sabich also asks his friend to keep part of the phone records out of the investigation because he repeatedly had called her the days leading to her murder. The second scene that undermines his innocence is when he is talking to the biopsy doctor and the doctor tells him that the rape homicide is a set up. Based on the previous conversation that Sabich had with his cop friend we know that Sabich had a reason and a motive to kill her.

After Sabich is found innocent, Sabich encounters the killing weapon in his house. He twirls it to see the dried blood all over the weapon and then, without a word, heads into the house. The tight frame around his face indicates that he has come across a key item that could prove him guilty. The angle in the frame is neutral giving no indication to about his actual innocent and his face expression gives no lead way either.  However, the shadow covering half of his face suggests a dark side that the weapon developed. To the audience it appears that Sabich has committed the crime and to avoid being convicted, he hid the murder weapon in his house.

These three scenes are what make the film an intellectual work because even to the last scene, the audience is left wondering if Sabich committed the crime. Alongside Rusty Sabich innocence resides corruption that is both the cause and the effect of Sabich’s dilemma. Sabich’s part in corruption is both the aid and the deteriorating factor that put him in his position. One wonders had Sabich had not been part of the corrupt system, would have been a scapegoat? But like his friend cop said, the lady was bad news.