Only a riveting performance by Jodie Foster lifts THE ACCUSED above the level of a television movie. The story, which bears some resemblance to a much-publicized 1983 incident in Massachusetts, centers on the case of Foster, a tough, sexy young woman who is gang-raped in a neighborhood
bar before a crowd of cheering onlookers. District attorney McGillis takes the case. She agrees to a plea bargain in which the rapists admit to reckless endangerment, because she fears her client's sordid past will destroy her credibility in court. After Foster castigates McGillis for selling her
out, McGillis devises a new strategy--to put the crowd of onlookers on trial for "criminal solicitation."
Director Jonathan Kaplan and screenwriter Tom Topor purposely paint Foster as a slut in order to strengthen their argument--for no matter how provocatively she was dressed or how erotically she danced, no one can believe that Foster wanted to be gang-raped. Although the filmmakers are
well-intentioned, THE ACCUSED is a predictable picture that lacks emotional insight; it works only because of the onscreen bond between Foster, who won a much-deserved Oscar for her performance, and McGillis. Foster charges forward into the frame with explosive energy, carrying the film and
proving she has far too much talent to let mediocre material bring her down. leave a comment
