Diritto di cronaca

... as audiences would not relate to anything this cynical prior to Watergate. This was made only seven years afterwards.

Sally Field is an ethically-challenged reporter. With the help of an even more unscrupulous federal investigator, played by Bob Balaban, she writes a story that implicates Michael Gallagher (Paul Newman) in the disappearance & presumed murder of a union boss. Gallagher is on the radar because his uncle is a mobster. The film employs a procedural narrative that delivers little dramatic tension. The severest act happens off screen. The characters feel slightly underwritten. The exception is Melinda Dillon's poignant portrayal of Teresa Perrone, Gallagher's best friend, who occupies the moral epicenter.

While everyone else is playing a game of extreme cynicism, not uncommon in journalism and politics, Teresa feels most acutely. I liked the straight-forward approach and lack of style. Of course, director Sydney Pollack was never known as a stylist. I'm not saying this in the pejorative. I enjoy Pollack's work. Wilford Brimley makes a needed, late appearance to munch down on some scenery.

It does have the distinct feel of a film made to make a go for the Oscars, with Paul Newman making repeated failed runs at the Best Actor prize at this point in his career. Still Newman in the lead gave gave a film at that time the same amount of heft that Tom Hanks in the lead gives a film today.