User reviews

This was a sleeper, a no-name movie that might have gone straight-to-video and was pretty good. It's one of these crime movies that doesn't have a lot of action yet keeps your interest all the way through.

Like a true film noir, none of the characters nor their morality in this are really good but what WAS good was a few things at the end of this story you rarely see in a Hollywood film.

Bill Pullman, Devon Sawa, Gabrielle Anwar, Angela Featherstone and Joanne Whalley (Kilmer) make for a diverse cast of actors. This is worth a look if you can find it anywhere but not that good to go searching for it.

A very entertaining thriller. The screenplay is full of twists and coincidences which would appear shamefully incredible in other hands, but here the whole cobweb is managed cleverly and for moments we seem to be in front of a real Greek tragedy. Waller builds some great moments of tension that keep you in the edge of your sit.Bill Pullman is superb as the mean, tricky lawyer. Worth seeing.

The actors do everything they can to pull together a script that has so many implausible coincidences to be ridiculous. Let's put all of that aside and just enjoy some of the excellent acting by Anwar and most of the supporting cast. Pullman is always solid. But what really ruins this film is the last 15 minutes where stupid goes to a whole new level just to reach the goal line set by whomever was rsponsible for the script.

This is a flawed film, not flawed creatively, but in its sidestepping of consumerism. We, collectively, have been taught to expect certain things from movies and those things are attributes that make box office. That isn't necessarily stuff that makes good stories. This movie deviates, I think, from formula in one pivotal and disturbing scene. It doesn't give us what we've come to expect, it gives us something else, much as the movie "The Pledge" did, which also trashed its chances at the box office. But if you don't demand the "norm" in your films, this is a complicated and delightfully twisting tale of indulgence and getting accidentally swept up in things we had no intention of messing with. Personally, I found what has been called weak performances as low keyed and powerful and I had fun letting Bill Pullman do something ... well, sinister. It isn't a great film, it's for buffs who like something oddball to carry in their knapsack of cinematic experiences. It ain't for everyone, but for those it's for, it's a treat. On its most basic level, it's about a powerful man who, in aggresive drunkeness, rapes a nearly willing secretary and wants her to forget about it because of his career. On the other level, it's about what goes around doing its thing. Newton's Law. And you know laws, we will abide by them.

On the up side, "The Guilty" offers deceit, infidelity, romance, rape, murder, family matters, and characters ranging from powerful and wealthy to scumbags and thugs all supported by an excellent cast. On the downside, this Simon Birch knock-off heaps coincidence upon coincidence as it weaves its very improbable story with characters behaving as necessary to make the convoluted plot work. In the final analysis, "The Guilty" makes the suspension of disbelief easy by slowly sucking the audience into its complex web of intrigue. An above average little flick good for 100 minutes of escapism with nary a dull moment.

It is funny how much Pullman and Sawa resemble each other, and that Pullman's character seems to feel it when they first meet. However...

Plot wise, it's a trash fire, but there is very solid acting here, and the directing may not quite be memorable, but it also is solid enough to make this a picture worth watching.

But it does require truly monumental stupidity for some of the "twists" to occur.

and all things considered means that if you throw 6-7 idiotic characters in the movie and you have any kind of plot (someone said even a twist), you will get OK rental movie.

everyone in this movie does exactly opposite of what would make sense.

Callum Crane(Pullman), a manipulating lawyer(and thus a very good one too), is about to become a federal judge, his greatest desire of all. Now his life is like he always wanted it to be. One evening however(surprise, surprise), he has a brief sexual encounter with his new secretary(Gabrielle Anwar). Things run out of hand and she threatens to blackmail him. Meanwhile, a young man is released from prison...

So far for the plain and all too familiar starting-point. Of course, you just can sense that there will be some more to it than just this. But hey, didn't we see that sort of twisting and turning thriller before too(much)?

THE GUILTY is notable especially for its (good?)sense of humour and its anti-typecasting. In a way, it reminded me a bit of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS(especially the character of the gangster boss in this film). There are some rather funny scenes in it and a few unexpected turns, but it's not enough to make up for the many holes in the plot and the mediocre acting.

Bill Pullman was, in my opinion, not the right man to play the tough, wise-cracking lawyer, who's always looking for a way out. He overplays his character, but could have done this much better. I expected a lot of Gabrielle Anwar, whom I haven't seen in along time, but she doesn't get much to do(despite her big part)and really doesn't seem focused at all. Angela Featherstone(as Anwar's friend)is good as long as she doesn't have a big scene. Then, it's obviously that she 's not a great actress(yet). Devon Sawa(as the young man released from prison) comes off best, but then again, his character is nothing special at all. I also thought that there were many similarities between this film and Sawa's earlier FINAL DESTINATION.(though that was a much better and yet completely different film)

All in all, I found this film to be rather unconvincing. Anthony Waller really could have done better than this. With MUTE WITNESS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF and this film he certainly has developed his own way of filming, but he still has to make his first good film too. I was surprised to see that in neither of his films the acting was of a high standard. Certainly not bad, but not worth the trip to the movie theatre too. 6/10

Callum Crane is in line for appointment to the federal bench during the same week he forces himself, while drunk, on a new secretary at his office who has firmly said no to him.

It's also the same week Nathan Corrigan (a young, callow ex-con) goes to the city to meet his biological father, the same Callum Crane.

They meet and before Nathan can tell Crane who he is, Crane offers him money to kill the secretary, who has threatened to go to the police.

Nathan takes an envelop of cash and the woman's photo, tells friends about it, and throws away the envelop. One of the friends, who needs money, retrieves the envelop and sets out to kill the woman. Can Nathan stop the crime?

Firstly, Bill Pullman is not a good rapist and the scene is directed like a romance. And why does he always look like he's gonna cry? The movie is very slow, and the giant chink in the armor? The plot is absurdly unbelievable. Why doesn't the girl just go to the cops? Why doesn't the friend just take the envelope with the money and run for the hills? It's a film that makes no sense.

I was watching TV late one night when I stumbled across this movie. I missed the first 15 minutes or so, but continued to watch it. I'm glad that I did, as it's become one of my all-time favorite movies.

The story is about a sleazy, self-centered lawyer (played brilliantly by Bill "Independence Day" Pullman), who gets drunk and rapes his new secretary. She threatens to expose him for who he really is, so he hires someone to kill her. Unbeknown to him, he has actually hired his long lost son (Devon "Final Destination" Sawa). However, his son is actually a "good guy" and refuses to do it. He throws all the documents away, but his no-good criminal friend finds them and decides to kill her instead, as he needs the money to pay of a loan. The action and suspense is non-stop from here on.

This movie has brilliant acting, fantastic direction and awesome camera angles. I give this movie 11/10! A must see for anyone and everyone!

One rainy day while searching the video store my boyfriend and I came across this movie. Bill Pullman was on the cover so we hired it without reading the back of the cover and we were pleasantly surprised.

It was strange seeing Bill Pullman as the bad guy. He's certainly an underrated actor and this movie works only because of him.

Gabrielle Anwar was dull in her performance but Devon Sawa was great.

Bill Pullman plays a lawyer about to become a judge who tries to seduce his secretary, Gabrielle Anwar. She threatens to blackmail him and he hires Sawa to kill her but there are a few twists involved.

All in all this isn't a bad movie to watch and even though his performance was good, after being the nice guy for so long you have trouble believing Bill Pullman as a baddie.

Reading all the above comments, both for and against I note that there was no remarks on the pivotal role of LEO, played by Jaimz Woolvett, this young man reminded me strongly of Gary Oldman, the intensity he brought to the instability and sudden rages of the character were first class, the emotional switch from bravado to weeping terror when confronted with a pistol to his head were frighteningly real.

Bill Pullman, as usual gave value for money, his style of louche living and loose moral standards was excellent, young Devon Sawha seemed a little lost at first but with the more emotional scenes with his family and with the girl he rose to meet the challenge, he probably needs to move past the "pretty face" casting and look for more challenging roles.

I rate 7/10

In deciding to do this British TV miniseries as a movie, there was an opportunity to take maybe just one of the coincidences that ruin this story out of the script, but instead, it's practically verbatim.

Bill Pullman plays Callum Crane, an excellent attorney who is totally self-involved, arrogant, and amoral. He lives with his wife and her children, whom he doesn't like.

Crane becomes interested in a young secretary, the petite, leggy Sophie (Gabrielle Anwar). One night, they are both at the office late, have drinks together and go to her apartment. He wants to have sex with her, but Sophie realizes it's a mistake. After all, he's her boss and he's married and drunk. Crane doesn't take no for an answer and rapes her.

Sophie is too traumatized to report it or do anything about it, but Crane is bothered by her presence and has her fired. Then he is made a Judge. Sophie sees an opportunity to threaten him with going public if he doesn't resign.

A subplot concerns a young man who, learning he is adopted, goes searching for his father.

The British version, due to the young thugs, is grittier, and let's face an important fact - Bill Pullman is no Michael Kitchen and doesn't come close to realizing this character. He comes off as a bland guy, although an egotistical attorney, who decides to take a desperate action, but we don't see his growing desperation, and we don't see him as someone capable of making the decision he makes or any of the follow-up.

What I found mildly interesting is that Joanna Whalley plays Pullman's wife, and like the character of Sophie, she too is petite and brunette, so you can see the interest -- he's at this point not very involved with his wife.

I've always thought Gabrielle Anwar was a very good actress, and she is excellent here, sexy and more street smart than in the British version where the character was much more naive and fragile.

The ending is different, making it a tiny bit more palatable. The ending of the original was disappointing.

If you're going to see a version of "The Guilty," see the British 1992 version.

"The Guilty" is infuriatingly stupid.

Don't let the presence of the great Bill Pullman trick you into watching this, like it did me.

Bill Pullman comes from the same Do Anything For A Buck But Still Be Excellent Acting School that graduated the great Gene Hackman.

Indeed, Bill Pullman is awesome in a part that would have gone to Michael Douglas in a better movie.

But even he can't redeem this lame-brained thriller about a scoundrel lawyer who hires a hitman to kill the woman he raped, not knowing the hitman was the son he didn't know he had.

Read that last sentence again to yourself, out loud.

This movie is even stupider than that sounds out loud.

Characters say and do things in this movie only because it forwards the plot, logic be damned.

I watched this on my iPhone, and more than once I nearly hurled it at the wall in utter frustration at this movie, before reminding myself the device warrantee had expired, and I couldn't afford a new one.

After the phenobarbital, I was OK again.

I recommend you watch movies that don't lead to prescription drug use.

"The Guilty" is not one of those movies.

Free on PopcornFlix and YouTube.

I caught this movie on TV the other night and really enjoyed it. The acting was good and I loved the plot. A lot of suspense and a great ending. Bill Pullman is a really good actor who should receive more recognition. This movie is definitely worth seeing if you like a good story. I couldn't figure out how it was going to end and leave me satisfied with the outcome, but it came through with a terrific twist. I had never heard of the young man who played Nathan, but would like to see him in other things. The only character I thought was underplayed was the wife. More could have been done with this role. It was also a little heavy on the violence, but this is somewhat understandable given the "film noir" genre.

Great thriller. It begins to be a little dated in technique but the story is solid and is genuinely interesting for an evening on the sofa under the blanket.