Ashley Judd gives it her best in this “Stand By Your Man”-themed military film. Judd stars with her “Kiss the Girls” co-star Morgan Freeman and “Count of Monte Cristo’s” Jim Caviezel in “High Crimes,” a thriller that exposes the hidden side of a loving spousal relationship.

Judd is Claire Kubik, a high-powered defense attorney living an affluent, happy life with her husband, Tom (cue the “Jaws” music, it’s about to get dramatic). Everything she believes about her husband is tossed out the window as he is arrested at gunpoint by the FBI and charged with the deaths of innocent civilians during a military action in El Salvador. As the wife of a man who is accused of atrocious crimes during a covert military operation, Judd’s torn between her love for her husband and the ugliness of the charges mixed with the possibility that the military’s version of events is true. Deciding to be the supportive wife - and cutthroat defense attorney - she enlists the help of Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman), a wild card attorney with many bones to pick with the military.

The premise has been used before, many of the twists are predictably mapped out thus robbing them of their impact, and the writers throw in too many military clichés. It probably sounds as if I didn’t like this film but that’s not entirely true. The acting was first-rate and there were parts of the film that were downright riveting. It’s just that where the story could have cut a fresh path, it chose to rely too heavily on tried and true plot points. I personally had a problem with a few of the scenes not being consistent with the film’s ending, but to give the writers the benefit of the doubt, they are constricted by time restraints. Perhaps to answer those dangling storylines would have added another half an hour to the film - and we all know how well audiences hold up during long films.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

Earl and Hank have only one thing in common: they’re both L.A.P.D. rejects. One just got kicked out, the other can’t even get in. After confronting each other on opposite sides of the law during a traffic stop that escalates out of control, these two luckless individuals end up partnered as lowly security guards. Despite being damned to the lowest rung of the law enforcement ladder, Earl and Hank uncover a sophisticated smuggling operation led by Nash and his band of thugs. When Earl and Hank get their hands on some hot property, they go on the run from, first the bad guys, then the L.A.P.D.–led by Lt. Washington and Detective McDuff. What these two unlikely partners do to law enforcement is a crime, but they just might save the day. That is, if they don’t kill each other first. Written by Sujit R. Varma

John Quincy Archibald’s son Michael collapses while playing baseball as a result of heart failure. John rushes Michael to a hospital emergency room where he is informed that Michael’s only hope is a transplant. Unfortunately, John’s insurance won’t cover his son’s transplant. Out of options, John Q. takes the emergency room staff and patients hostage until hospital doctors agree to do the transplant. Written by Anonymous

Moisés Kaufman and members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepherd’s visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of “Angels in America” a year after Shephard’s death. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940’s, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner. Written by Martin Lewison {milst1@cislabs.pitt.edu}

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