I have seen several movies that Ashley Judd has been in over the years. I’ve liked all her movies that I have seen. Her newest, High Crimes, is no different. It is a very suspenseful movie, and I really enjoyed it. Morgan Freeman, another actor I really like is also in the movie.

CAST

Ashley Judd – Claire Kubik
Morgan Freeman – Charlie Grimes
Jim Cavizel – Tom Kubik/Ron Chapman
Adam Scott – Lt. Terrance Embry
Amanda Peet – Jackie
Bruce Davidson – Brig. General William Marks
Tom Bower – F.B.I. Agent Mullins
Juan Carlos Gaston – Major Waldron

Carl Franklin – Director
Yuri Zelster – Screenwriter

High Crimes is rated PG-13 for some violence and a few sexual situations. The movie is based on a book by Joseph Finder. I can’t remember the exact length of the movie, but it is about two hours long.

PLOT

Claire Kubik is a successful lawyer on track to becoming a partner at the law firm she works for. She is happily married to Tom. They are hoping to have a baby and have been trying to conceive. They seem to be a perfect couple. One night, after Christmas shopping, they are walking to their car when Tom notices a van parked nearby. He seems to be disturbed by the sight of the van. Right after he noticed the van, there is an explosion and men with machine guns surround Tom and Claire. Some of the men came out of the van Tom noticed. Tom is arrested and Claire is left wondering what is going on. She is demanding answers from an F.B.I. agent involved in the case, Agent Mullins. Claire is shocked to learn that Tom was arrested for a military crime.

Claire travels to the military base where Tom is being held. Once she is able to talk to Tome, he admits that he had been a Marine in Special Ops. He also admits that his name is really Ron Chapman. Claire is stunned by Tom’s admissions, but she manages to keep her composure. She finds out that Tom is being charged with the murder of nine civilians in a foreign country when she talks to the young Marine attorney assigned to Tom’s case. Claire decides that she is going to defend Tom. He says he is innocent and Claire believes him. She rents a house near the military base and starts planning her case.

Claire doesn’t know how things are done in military court, so she decides she needs to find someone with military law experience to work with her on the case. She gets Charlie Grimes to work with her. He is a former JAG attorney and a recovering alcoholic. Charlie is a wild card in the case. Claire’s sister, Jackie, shows up looking for a place to stay, saying she wants to help. Claire and Charlie uncover some evidence that seems to suggest a military cover up. Tom’s version of what happened supports the idea of a military cover up. The other side always seems to know everything that Claire and Charlie are doing and have discovered. At one point Tom takes a lie detector test and passes, but no one besides Claire and Charlie are supposed to know about the test. Someone lets Claire know that Tom received training in how to beat a lie detector test as part of his training. Charlie and Claire have some bad luck that may be more than just bad luck. Many other things happen during the movie, but I’m not telling anymore about the plot. If you want to know how everything turns out, watch the movie.

**End of plot discussion**

High Crimes is a suspenseful military drama. I was kept guessing about what would happen next throughout the movie. There are a lot of things related to the military in High Crimes. Those things seemed realistic to me, but I really don’t know if they were accurate or not. I know nothing about the military and how they do things. I have seen other military movies and television shows before, and nothing in High Crimes was dramatically different so I think the movie was accurate.

There are a few sexual situations between Claire and Tom in the movie, but there is no nudity. There are some violent scenes here and there in the movie. The violence isn’t as graphic as it is in some movies. A few characters end up bleeding because of some sort of violent act. Even though there isn’t a lot of violence in the movie, it may be enough to bother some people, especially if you can’t stand the sight of blood. Some of the characters swear here and there throughout the movie, but it wasn’t excessive. I don’t think the swearing was bad enough to offend anyone. Charlie injects some humor into the story here and there with some funny lines. At one point, Charlie ends up getting drunk to get some evidence. He says some really funny things then.

High Crimes is about two hours long, so it isn’t extremely long or short. Most of the time, the story moved along fine, but it did drag a little in a few places. For the most part, the pace of the movie was fine. It was just once or twice that a scene seemed to last a little too long. The movie didn’t seem to be too long or too short to me. I thought the length of the movie was just right. There were a few things that were left unanswered by the ending though. The sub plot involving Jackie wasn’t really resolved. Also, something happened near the end of the movie. The event did resolve some things, but I was left wondering just how Claire would explain what had happened. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie.

Ashley Judd was great in High Crimes. I think she is a very talented actress. She has a very expressive face and is able to convey all kinds of emotions just with an arch of an eyebrow. She had some very emotional scenes throughout High Crimes and she did a wonderful job with all of them. She can express so much without saying a word. I thought she was very believable both as a successful lawyer and as a wife whose happy marriage is shattered by the past she didn’t know her husband had. I did think her hair was a bit too short in this movie. It wasn’t horrible or anything, just a little too short. I think she looks better with longer hair, but that is just my opinion. The fact that I’m not that fond of her hairstyle in the movie didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the movie, or distract me while I was watching it. I have seen a few movies where someone had such a horribly bad hairstyle that it was just about the only thing I could focus on during the whole movie.

Morgan Freeman was wonderful as Charlie. I have seen several of his movies over the years, and he is another of my favorite actors. He becomes the characters he is playing. For example, he has played Alex Cross in two movies now. I had read two of the Alex books before seeing the first movie, Kiss the Girls. When I read the book, I imagined Alex a little younger. Other than being older than I had thought Alex was, Morgan Freeman was perfect as Alex. He became Alex and how I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Alex. Charlie is a very different character from Alex. Charlie is a lawyer and retired from the military. He does still practice law, but he isn’t as dedicated to it. Alex is dedicated and focused on his job as a police detective. Alex is very serious all the time. Charlie can be focused and serious, but he more laid back, and he can be funny at times. Morgan Freeman is Charlie, just like he is Alex, even though they are two very different characters. The fact that he can play two such different characters so well, become both of them so believably, shows just what a talented actor he is.

Jim Cavizel was fine in his role as Tom/Ron, but he didn’t have as many scenes as Ashley and Morgan did, so he didn’t have as much opportunity to shine like they did. There did seem to be some chemistry between him and Ashley at the beginning of the movie, but after his character is arrested, he and Ashley don’t have as many scenes together, and the chemistry seems to fizzle out. He did seem to be rather cold and emotionless at times, but I think that was because of the character he was playing. A military man trained for special operations is trained not to show emotions. At least I think they are. Most of his scenes involved him sitting in a room talking to Ashley, or sitting in the courtroom not saying anything. I’m not saying he was bad in the movie. He just didn’t have as much to work with as the other characters did. Amanda Peet had a few scenes here and there as Claire’s sister Jackie. I don’t think I’ve seen her in any other movies, but she did well with what she had to work with in this movie.

High Crimes is the second movie that Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman have starred in together. The first was Kiss the Girls, a movie based on the book of the same name by James Patterson. Ashley and Morgan were great in Kiss the Girls and they were great in High Crimes. They work very well together. I loved Kiss the Girls – the movie and the book – and I really like High Crimes too. I do like Kiss the Girls a little better though, mainly because of how much I like the character of Alex Cross.

CHARACTERS

Claire Kubik – She is a successful lawyer working for a well know law firm. She is use to talking to the press in relation to her cases. After getting a conviction thrown out, she finds out she is on track to becoming a partner. She is happily married and trying to have a baby with her husband, Tom. Her life and marriage are turned upside down when Tom is arrested for a military crime. Claire believes in her husband’s innocence and defends him in the military trial. She is a strong, determined woman who doesn’t give up.

Tom Kubik/Rom Chapman – He is Claire’s husband. He is arrested for killing nine civilians on a military operation when he was a Marine. He never told Claire about his past with the Marines. She didn’t know his real name was Ron Chapman. He does seem to love his wife, but he may be keeping more things from her. He has some outbursts and shows a temper that surprises Claire.

Charlie Grimes – He is a lawyer that Claire gets to help with the case. He is a former JAG attorney and therefore knows how military law works. He is also a recovering alcoholic. He is the wild card in Tom’s defense. He doesn’t always follow correct procedures. He can be funny at times. Once he agreed to help Claire, he is focused on tracking down evidence. So focused that he ends his sobriety and gets drunk to get a certain piece of evidence.

Jackie – She is Claire’s sister. The two don’t seem to be that close or have the best relationship. It seems like Claire has had to bail Jackie out of trouble more than once in the past. Jackie seems to have a lot of problems. She shows up wanting a place to live after she lost her apartment. She does want to help her sister. Jackie is rather friendly with the men she meets. She and Claire have a few disagreements, but they do work them out, and Jackie is there for her sister when it counts.

High Crimes is a really enjoyable movie. It isn’t a comedy or a feel good movie, but it is good and worth watching. This is a suspenseful military drama with some very serious subject matter. People who like those types of movies should like this one. Also, fans of Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, or Jim Cavizel should check out this movie. If you liked Kiss the Girls, you might enjoy High Crimes as well.

Thanks for reading. =)



Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older