One thing I found interesting about "The Accused" - a film that's famous for the vicious rape of a young blue-collar woman - is just how they chose to go about making such a movie. You know going in that there's a bad scene, and that the rest of the movie deals with the repercussions. But the film begins immediately after the atrocity went down. We open with Jodie Foster desperately flagging down a ride to make good her escape, and flow right into the doctor's examination of her ghastly welts, claw marks and bruising. The tone is set without any on screen violence.
Now, there's still a "bad scene" involved, but it doesn't happen until we've spent some time in the courtroom. It's a flashback, although the tension and foreboding have been ratcheted to obscene heights that it's still, to this day, beyond brutal (nauseating would be the better way to put it).
The whole of the movie is not easy to watch, and it's one that doesn't hold a lot of replay value. But the reason to recommend it (and I'm sure it has been for 25 years) is the performances from the two leads. Both are exceptional, but Foster won that Oscar for a reason. At the center of this movie are two women who are fighting; one for her side of the story to be heard (after her character assassination in the eyes of the public), and the attorney who's out to help her find justice.
"The Accused" is not as harrowing as "Leaving Las Vegas", but it's still no day at the beach. Regardless, should this movie ever come up in conversation, my recommendation will be based entirely on those performances from Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis.
7/10
Now, there's still a "bad scene" involved, but it doesn't happen until we've spent some time in the courtroom. It's a flashback, although the tension and foreboding have been ratcheted to obscene heights that it's still, to this day, beyond brutal (nauseating would be the better way to put it).
The whole of the movie is not easy to watch, and it's one that doesn't hold a lot of replay value. But the reason to recommend it (and I'm sure it has been for 25 years) is the performances from the two leads. Both are exceptional, but Foster won that Oscar for a reason. At the center of this movie are two women who are fighting; one for her side of the story to be heard (after her character assassination in the eyes of the public), and the attorney who's out to help her find justice.
"The Accused" is not as harrowing as "Leaving Las Vegas", but it's still no day at the beach. Regardless, should this movie ever come up in conversation, my recommendation will be based entirely on those performances from Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis.
7/10