PRESUMED INNOCENT (2024) – Tense legal drama with a jaded Jake performance and a rubbish ending

Jake Gyllenhaal takes on the lead as a prosecuting attorney, Rusty, who finds himself on trial for the murder of a fellow attorney whom he was having an extramarital affair with. This movie is an adaptation of a 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow. This is the second time the story has been adapted, the first being the film adaptation in 1990 which had Harrison Ford taking on the role of Rusty.

As with all good legal dramas, the script has to be top notched in order to be convincing especially in the court room scenes. Fortunately, Presumed Innocent does not disappoint in this area. Nevertheless, it does fall short in terms of the main character Rusty. As the protagonist, Rusty comes across as a bit of an ass**** as he is hot tempered and insufferable to the people who are actually on his side. This makes him less of a sympathetic character and not someone I would particularly be rooting for. Jake Gyllenhaal who is usually excellent in anything he does strangely seem a bit off the mark this time. Perhaps he is merely portraying the character as he was written which translates to a pretty unlikeable character with plenty of flaws.

Conversely, some of the supporting characters are far more interesting and I kept wondering how the story will play out had the whole thing be told from their point of view rather than from Rusty’s. I thought Peter Sarsgaard in particular, was excellent as the defense attorney Tommy Molto, who seem to have a personal grudge against Rusty. Sarsgaard made his character so enjoyably villainous with a performance that transcend the norm. I dare say that I found myself secretly rooting for Tommy rather than Rusty simply because he is far more interesting and does not seem to keep as much secrets as Rusty. Besides, he owns a cat which immediately elevates his character to someone who cannot be all that bad. Another interesting character was Rusty’s best friend a former DA and lawyer Raymond, who gallantly offered to represent Rusty in court. This multi layered character was very well portrayed by Bill Camp, giving Raymond some shiny moments in the series despite being predominantly a background character.

In all fairness, Presumed Innocent was compelling viewing despite the flawed main character, and the insidious bombardment of “new” evidence and information pertaining to the case. What tipped the whole thing down a step further is its ludicrous ending. We knew there would be some sort of shocking final twists to the story after the court verdict had been given, and this usually would make or break the whole thing. Unfortunately, in this case, I am not buying the silly disclosure and would have preferred a more down to earth and believable resolution. At the end of the day, the film makers just could not resist the old Hollywood tradition of going overboard just for the sake of providing a “I didn’t see that coming” effect.