bkoganbing
I think An Innocent Man proved that whenever he decided to end his Magnum PI series, Tom Selleck was going to have no trouble in getting good parts. And not those that were a variation on his Thomas Magnum persona.This is one really powerful film about An Innocent Man getting caught in the criminal justice machinery because of a pair of dirty cops, David Rasche and Richard Young. These two who are decorated heroes in the Long Beach PD for all the arrests they rack up are actually just putting out of business all the independents in the narcotics trade for the local organized crime boss and making a nice side living in the process.They get an address wrong from an informant and they invade Selleck's home, shoot and wound Selleck, and then plant evidence to make Selleck out as a dealer. He gets convicted and sentenced to six years hard time and I do mean hard which it is for anyone who's not a professional in the criminal trade.Fortunately he gets himself a mentor in old time con F. Murray Abraham who also has a score to settle with those two cops. Abraham teaches him all the new rules for survival in the joint, housed with men who are by nature incorrigible and don't play by civilized rules. Selleck does things that were against his old nature.When he does get paroled from inside the joint Abraham quarterbacks a revenge scheme that Selleck participates in.Besides those mentioned I should also single out Laila Robins who plays Selleck's wife who stands by him and Bruce Young who plays a violent convict that Selleck has to deal with in the joint.An Innocent Man is one of the best made for television films done and should have gotten big screen theatrical release.
gcd70
Pure revenge film all the way is this drama from the pen of Larry Brothers which tried to be a serious movie about the prevailing of justice when "An Innocent Man" (Tom Selleck) is framed by a pair of corrupt narcotics detectives.Peter Yates never stood a chance of making this a film with a message due to its obvious direction, conclusion and its total lack of life's ever present ambiguities. Tom Selleck's character is just too pure and righteous, and his loving wife is far too good for words, while the bad guys are just so, so bad it's annoying. F. Murray Abraham is probably the only slightly believable, and enjoyable, character, as he doesn't mind helping out a friend, yet we know he has a dark past. An agreeable showing from the one time Academy Award winner.This is the only highlight though in what is essentially a two dimensional movie lacking completely in originality. Howard Shore's surprisingly below par score is also a let down. Recommended just for audiences who either love Tom Selleck or love seeing the nasties get their comeuppance.Thursday, August 25, 1994 - T.V.
khundewadt
I really can't comment on this movie, because I've never seen it all the way through, here is why: Many years ago, when I was a little girl (maybe 10 or 12 years old), they showed this movie on television, and I guess I thought it sounded like a good movie, because I taped it. The next day I watched it (or so I thought) and thought it was really good. So good in fact that I wanted to share it with the rest of my family! So I gave the tape to my parents and big brother and said: "Watch this!" (well I can't remember exactly what I said, but I can imagine it was something like that). I sat down and watched it again with them. But when the movie ended (or should I say; when the tape ended) I didn't get the praise I expected to get for showing them this great movie, you see, the movie didn't quite end where I thought it did, the last scene on MY tape was when the leading character gets out of prison, and I thought that was how the movie ended but in fact I had just run out of tape...! So... I wasn't too popular in my family that day... I had shown them half of a movie...! Ever since that day the movie has haunted my mind... I never saw it again, they never showed it on TV, as far as I noticed ( but then again, as you can tell I wasn't the most observant kid...) I've always wanted to find it and see how it ends and show the end to the rest of my family. I feel like I owe them that. I didn't know the name of the movie, but I remembered that the corrupt police officers mistook a blow dryer for a gun (I believe...) and I remembered that his prison mate was bald (I think...) and the leading character had a mustache (now this I knew for sure!) And since I only know 2 major actors with mustaches (and apparently it wasn't Burt Reynolds, I checked) it had to be Tom Selleck, and it was!!! I've never been more happy...! (that's sad...) and now I'm going to get hold of "An Innocent Man" and show it to my family, I can finally get closure, thank you IMDb!!!
MARVMOOCOW
This little under rated gem is a great flick.Witness the transformation of Tom Selleck from all round nice guy to bad ass dude as his life is turned upside down by two corrupt cops who make a mistake on a bust. This is a very enjoyable flick and well worth a look its definitely one of Sellecks better films and seriously deserved better treatment at the cinemas than what it did.If you've got nothing better to do on a rainy afternoon then this is highly recommended viewing,its not "The Shawshank Redemption",which is my favourite jail film,or even "The Green Mile" but it is still a great little film and a great time filler.Sometimes I wonder what Sellecks career would've been like had he of made a little film called "Raiders of The Lost Ark" perhaps his film career would've gone through the roof,he definitely deserves a better film career than what he had.
AD
