True Believer (1989 film)
6.8 /10 1 Votes
Director Joseph Ruben Screenplay Wesley Strick Duration Country United States | 6.8/10 IMDb Genre Drama, Crime Initial DVD release April 3, 2001 Writer Wesley Strick Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date February 17, 1989 (1989-02-17) Cast James Woods (Eddie Dodd), Robert Downey Jr. (Roger Baron), Margaret Colin (Kitty Greer), Yuji Okumoto (Shu Kai Kim)Similar movies Animal Factory (2000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
True believer trailer
True Believer (also released as Fighting Justice) is a 1989 American courtroom drama written by Wesley Strick, directed by Joseph Ruben, and starring James Woods, Robert Downey, Jr., Yuji Okumoto, Margaret Colin, and Kurtwood Smith.
Contents
The film is loosely based on an investigative series of articles written by Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist K. W. Lee on the conviction of immigrant Chol Soo Lee for a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder. The news coverage led to a new trial, eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from San Quentin's Death Row. Screenwriter Wesley Strick based the character of Eddie Dodd on real-life Bay Area defense attorney Tony Serra.
True believer 1989 movie
Plot
Eddie Dodd is a burnt-out attorney who has left behind civil rights work to defend drug dealers. Roger Baron is an idealistic young legal clerk, fresh out of law school, who encourages Dodd to take on the case of Shu Kai Kim, a young Korean man who was imprisoned for a gang-related murder and has now killed a fellow inmate. Kim's mother believes her son was wrongfully accused in the gang-related murder. Dodd and Baron's investigation leads to a conspiracy among the district attorney, a police informant, and several police officers.
Reception
Strick's screenplay was nominated for a 1990 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Motion Picture. Film critic Roger Ebert commended Woods's performance for being "hypnotically watchable."
At the time of True Believer's release, K.W. Lee told the Charleston Gazette he enjoyed the film “as fiction...but it was not a true picture. They have completely preempted the struggle of Asians.”
True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off television series, Eddie Dodd, starring Treat Williams in the title role.
References
True Believer (1989 film) WikipediaTrue Believer (1989 film) IMDb True Believer (1989 film) themoviedb.org