Reel Critics

Peggy Rogers

A lawyer’s successful career and happy marriage take a detour when the

military accuses her husband of murdering innocent men and women during a

mission in South America years ago. The lawyer assigned to defend her

husband is barely dry behind the ears.

Claire Kubrick (Ashley Judd) rolls up her sleeves and begins the task

of winning the case against her husband by enlisting the help of an

experienced military lawyer, Charlie Grimes, played by Morgan Freeman.

Charlie is a salty old dog of a lawyer whose former drinking problem cut

short a promising career in law. Additional support arrives from Claire’s

scatterbrain sister, Jackie (Amanda Peet, “Saving Silverman”), who moves

in to mooch off of her big sis.

“High Crimes” suffers from a split personality. Judd and Freeman play

off each other well as they did in “Kiss the Girls.” Her character’s

intelligence and ability to learn quickly combined with Freeman’s

wild-card mentoring techniques makes them a likable pair to watch. A

lawyer defending her husband under a different legal system is an

intriguing concept. However, the film starts to wobble when suspenseful

elements are added into the mix.

Whose following her? How many people are following her? Why for

goodness sakes are they following her? The introduction of too many

familiar scenes from other films that have grown stale with overuse

undermines the positive attributes “High Crimes” opened with.

Filmgoers who enjoy any of Judd’s and/or Freeman’s films such as

“Double Jeopardy” and “Along Came a Spider” should find “High Crimes”

suited to their tastes. It’s light entertainment, something to help you

relax and unwind and forget your problems for a few hours.

* PEGGY J. ROGERS, 39, produces commercial videos and documentaries.