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HIGH CRIMES (PG-13)

Plot Summary: A lawyer discovers that the husband she thought she knew has a shrouded past. She must defend him in military court—but is he who he says he is now?

Reason for the Rating: Violence, sexual content, and language.

First, let me say that HIGH CRIMES is not a show to take the kids to. The opening scene shows Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd—Someone Like You, Double Jeopardy) consulting an ovulation kit and proceeding to make a baby with her husband, Tom (James Caviezel—The Count of Monte Cristo, Frequency)

HIGH CRIMES also takes viewers to a strip joint and a party with prostitutes. Nowhere in the movie is there true nudity, but director Carl Franklin (One True Thing) comes as close to it as he possibly can and still hold onto a PG-13 rating.

The story is that Claire and Tom are a happily married couple. She’s a successful trial lawyer and he’s a construction contractor. They want to start a family. But then an FBI strike team arrests Tom, whom they call Ron Chapman, for the murder of nine El Salvadoran civilians nine years prior.

Suddenly Claire discovers that the husband she thought she knew has a past she knows nothing about. Turns out he was with the Marines nine years ago and was part of a unit that was present when those civilians were killed. The military has accused Ron of the crime. Ron says he’s being set up.

As Claire prepares to defend her husband in court, she’s got to decide if she believes him now. She’s also got to very quickly learn the rules of a brand of law she’s never practiced. To give her an edge, she enlists retired JAG lawyer Charles Grimes (Morgan Freeman—The Shawshank Redemption, Along Came A Spider). As Claire gets closer to the truth, there are several attempts on her life.

The acting in this movie is good. Judd is always fun to watch, Caviezel keeps you guessing about the truth until the very end, and Freeman is as delightful as ever. The directing is good, the script is fine (adapted from the novel by Joseph Finder), and the cinematic values are high throughout. It’s a suspenseful ride that will keep your stomach in knots until the closing credits.

So why didn’t I like it? For one thing, the plot is hard to follow. I didn’t figure out until the drive home that there were actually two crimes that had been committed. The attempts on Claire’s life were to keep one of them covered up, but the real story is about the other one. Confusing. Then there’s the sexual content, the images of innocent civilians being shot, and the disquieting idea that the military we trust could turn on U.S. citizens.

You might like HIGH CRIMES, and I might like it better if I saw it again. But I walked out of the theater feeling lukewarm about it.

FamilyFans.com Recommends: As usual, leave the kids at home. But if the trailer catches you as it caught me and if you’re a fan of Judd or Freeman, give it a try.

After the Show…If members of your family choose to view this movie, use these questions to spark discussion about it afterward:

---Claire discovered she didn’t really know her husband. What ways can you think of to truly get to know someone before entering into a long-term relationship with him or her?

---Charlie is a recovering alcoholic, but the temptation to drink was always there. What lessons can you learn from how and why Charlie “fell off the wagon” in this movie? What vices are you often tempted to commit? How can you stay free of them?

---Is a government ever justified in frightening, attacking, and even killing its own citizens in the name of national security?

Jefferson Scott

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