This is an old-fashioned movie done with wit, grace, smarts and style. [19 March 1999, Friday, p.A]
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
SlateDavid Edelstein
True Crime gives you sleaze on toast--a heap of tabloid bathos, a dusting of high-mindedness, a dash of gallows humor. It's a bizarre concoction, but it's riveting.
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
It would be even better if Eastwood followed his character's lead and emphasized "real issues" over "human interest" in a story that touches on important social problems without doing much to illuminate them.
An anti-capital-punishment polemic that won't change a single mind anywhere on Earth but will entertain well enough everywhere on Earth.
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Eastwood has never seemed less the persona he has built through the decades, the calm yet commanding center of a storm.
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The geological equivalent of an albatross around the neck. It's another of those Warner Bros. productions that are heavy on star iconography and production values but AWOL on story.
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Eastwood himself, pushing 70 but cruising women in their early 20s, counts on more goodwill than I can muster. I wasn't bored, but my suspension of disbelief collapsed well before the end.