The Accused (1988): A Review (Review #1990)

THE ACCUSED (1988)

When released, The Accused was shocking and daring for its depiction of rape on screen. The film went on to win its star, Jodie Foster, the first of her at present two Best Actress Academy Awards. It is a shame that The Accused is if not forgotten at least not as well-remembered as her other Oscar-winning performance in The Silence of the Lambs. Gripping, moving and well-acted all around, The Accused is a film on an important subject.

A young woman starts running and screaming out of a local bar called The Mill. A young man runs to an outside payphone, frantically calling to let the police know that there was a gang rape going on. The assaulted woman is Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster). Shellshocked from her experience, she still is able to identify her three rapists, including Bob Joiner (Steve Antin) a well-to-do college student. Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) is on the case and wants the three men prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 

However, the D.A.'s office is concerned that they will not win a conviction due to Tobias' background. She drinks in the day to "smooth out the edges", admits to using marijuana and had by her own admission said that she would like to have sex with one of them prior to the assault. The charges are pled down to reckless endangerment, which carries a prison term but does not mention the rape. Sarah is enraged by the plea deal, but Kathryn points out that Sarah wanted them locked up and she did as she was asked. 

A few months after the assault and plea deal, Sarah is harassed by Cliff (Leo Rossi), one of the men at The Mill that had not only witnessed but cheered on the rapists as they brutalized Sarah. Sarah, in a mix of fear, anger, rage and hurt, slams her car into his truck. Kathryn, overwhelmed with guilt at not letting Sarah have her rape put on the record, is compelled to act. She decides on a novel legal course: charging the men who cheered on the rape with criminal solicitation. This will nullify the plea deal, extend the rapists' prison term and put the rape on the record. Sarah will finally give an account of what happened to her. However, it will take more than her harrowing testimony to win a conviction. Will Kenneth Joyce (Bernie Coulson), Bob's fraternity friend who was the mysterious caller, help or hinder the case? 

The Accused is a hard watch. The beginning itself, where we see the various medical exams that Sarah has to undergo when reporting the rape are a tough set to sit through. Director Jonathan Kaplan does not sensationalize this sequence. In fact, it is done very matter-of-factly, making the impact stronger. There are many hard moments in The Accused, all surrounding Jodie Foster's performance. There is the initial examination. There is when she, late at night, calls her mother but cannot bring herself to tell her what she has just survived. There is a scene where her live-in boyfriend attempts to be sympathetic. 

The hardest scenes involve the actual assault. Kaplan and screenwriter Tom Toper opted not to have a reenactment of Sarah's assault take place when Tobias is on the stand. In this section, we focus squarely on Tobias as a character and Foster as an actress. Foster brings out Sarah's pain and fear mingled with anger when recounting her story. There is a tenseness in her face, one that speaks of being both resolute and traumatized. 

The reenactment is during Kenneth Joyce's testimony. That is an interesting choice, and I wonder if a factor was whether The Accused wanted to push Bernie Coulson into stardom. He is billed as "Introducing Bernie Coulson", and Coulson is given a plum role when testifying. However, The Accused uses Kenneth's testimony to show how Sarah Tobias ended up in the horrifying situation she was in. The film does not sugarcoat Tobias' less-than-reputable behavior: she drinks, she is dressed scantily, she flirts with one of her eventual attackers. If anyone still believes though that Sarah somehow "invited" this on herself, one need only sit through the horrifying rape on the pinball machine. We sometimes get shots from her point of view, making things more harrowing and horrifying. 

It is Jodie Foster who makes The Accused. We see the vulnerability along with the unsophisticated manner. Sarah is a flawed woman, but also in a way almost innocent. She mentions often her work with astrology, even repeatedly offering to make a chart for Murphy. Foster and McGillis have a wonderful moment near the end when Murphy finally, albeit with a touch of cynicism, looks over the chart that Tobias has made. 

Throughout The Accused, Jodie Foster never hits a wrong note. It is never overacted, having big moments. Instead, Foster at times is surprisingly quiet and restrained. The scene where she calls her mother is just Foster and a voice on the other end. We see the reluctance to confide in someone who is showing more irritation and suspicion about whatever Sarah is going through. It is quiet but effective.

The Accused is well-acted throughout. McGillis' prosecutor is tough and shrewd, but also self-justified. She perhaps also looks down on Sarah as so much white trash. Murphy clearly sees that Tobias was violently assaulted. She also, however, sees that Tobias might come across as less than reputable, giving her pause on how she will come across. In her mix of patrician manner with eventual fighting spirit, Kelly McGillis held your attention. 

In his role, Coulson has an almost naive manner as Kenneth Joyce. He wants to do the right thing and did start out doing so when he rushed to call the police. However, he also wavered when loyalty to his friend began to cloud his knowledge of the crime. Rossi did well as the loathsome Cliff, nicknamed "Scorpion" due to a prominent tattoo that helped identify him. Carmen Argenziano did well as the District Attorney Rudolph, who wants a plea deal and nothing more. 

The Accused is as I said, a tough watch. It is also well-acted, and I would say triumphant in that we see genuine justice done. I do not know if people remember The Accused apart from Jodie Foster's Oscar win. Had she ultimately not won Best Actress for the film, I would say that The Accused is well worth watching for both her and the story. Harrowing, moving and well-made, The Accused is a strong film. 

DECISION: B+