Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Boozer, skirt chaser, careless father. You could create your own list of reporter Steve Everett's faults but there's no time. A San Quentin Death Row prisoner is slated to die at midnight – a man Everett has suddenly realized is innocent.
True Crime is a competent but unremarkable Clint Eastwood-directed thriller. The race-against-the-clock plot is engaging enough and benefits from Eastwood's assured direction and a solid ensemble cast, but the premise is familiar genre territory — the flawed journalist uncovering innocence on death row treads well-worn ground. Eastwood himself is watchable in a role that leans heavily on his established screen persona, and Isaiah Washington delivers a dignified supporting turn. Cinematography is professional and functional without being visually distinctive. The ending delivers satisfying tension but follows predictable thriller conventions. Novelty is the weakest dimension — the film offers little that distinguishes it from similar death-row procedurals of the era.