This film was a very hard gem to find, thankfully You tube had this, isn't technology incredible.
Burnt-out civil rights lawyer James Woods's career has devolved into defense for known drug dealers. But he gets a shot at redemption when a starry-eyed legal assistant (Robert Downey Jr.) goads him into taking the case of an innocent man who's spent 8 years in jail for a murder he didn't commit.
Not many people know about this film and it's one of the most unknown courtroom dramas of all-time. Much of the suspense in this film is very much based on the stroy itself, it starts out as a normal case with a normal start then starts to spiral into a story of twists and turns that are fully entertaining and thrilling at the same time.
The real strength of True Believer is the amazing performance from James Woods. You can feel him struggle with the case in all and then start to struggle with winning it. He's so able to put a spin on things, he doesn't play the same character throughout the whole film. He changes how he acts depending on how the case goes and you can just feel the frustration and anger that he has towards this case. Also a young Robert Downey Jr. does a reasonable job at Woods' crony, but it's certainly not one of his best.
There are some problems I had with this film. I have seen the trailer for this film many of times before I saw this and I feel like the editing was very rushed. I say this because many of the scenes from the trailer were not in the film and I felt like the editing was rushed just so they could get the movie out there. Also the film felt like a courtroom TV show. With the cheesy music, episodic feel, and compelling made-for-TV story. I just think I didn't feel like I was watching a big-time film.
The courtroom scenes are very compelling and although there aren't many they are great and create a sense of anger in the air. Most of the anger is directed right from the performance of James Woods.
Consensus: True Believer is a story you have seen before but the way James Woods puts a twist on it, it is surely an underrated great watch.
8/10=Rentall!!
