Will Smith Movie:

				Salesrank: 187028
		Used Price: $23.02
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Eddie Dodd (James Woods) is a former '60s radical lawyer who now spends his time cynically defending drug dealers for the big bucks. But an idealistic young protégé (Robert Downey Jr.) convinces him to take one case from the heart: a young Korean immigrant unjustly accused in a gang slaying. Woods (complete with add-on ponytail) fairly hums with energy once he gets cooking here. Playing the been-there-done-that mentor--not to mention legal gadfly--gives Woods plenty of opportunity to run off at the mouth with spicy one-liners and zingers. But it also allows him to do some real acting, capturing Eddie's denial and sense of disappointment in himself. Plus his vehicle is a not-too-shabby mystery by thrillmeister director Joseph Ruben (Sleeping with the Enemy). --Marshall Fine

True Believer [Region 2] Reviews:
True Believer and Bestseller-James Woods and Brian Denehy are at the top of their craft in these two films.
2009-06-18 - If you like suspense, drama, etc. plus James Woods and Brian Denehy, you really need to add these two DVDs to your collection. The stories are great...some of the best work both actors have ever done!

Lawyers wear pony tails... don't they?
2009-05-09 - For those individuals in constant misery for lack of an answer to that burning, age old question, "what ever happened to all those activist, civil rights lawyers from the 60s" True Believer just might be your redemption. James Woods, pony tail and all, plays Eddie Dodd, an aging lawyer who, you guessed it, made a reputation for himself in the 60's as an activist, civil rights lawyer. Now specializing in defending drug dealers from "The Man" Dodd takes on a murder case at the request of a pleading mother who insists her son is innocent. With a solid supporting cast, True Believer is a satisfying courtroom drama/whodunit with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. This may not be 12 Angry Men or To Kill a Mockingbird but it is one of Woods' signature performances and a must have for any James Woods fan. The widescreen format upconverts to 1080 dpi very well and the sound is typical for DVD.

True but easy
2008-11-25 - One more film about the corruption that is killing the NYPD and the District Attorney in that area. Then it is all a question of details. Gritty details. When you are working on a big business like the Colombian connection, you need informers and of course these have a price and that price is simple, total and absolute protection and impunity in their everyday criminal life. In this very particular case there seemed to be some kind of family business that made the informer nervous and he had to kill some kind of boyfriend of his daughter or something and then cover up his crime by having the police arrest and have an other man accused, as long as he was not a Caucasian nor someone from his own band or gang and that's how a Korean was dragged into prison and stayed there eight years. But the film is nothing so far. The point is how the defense attorney is going to get the truth out and his client out of the can. He has to force a couple of people into saying what has to be said and then he can trap the district attorney into revealing that the Korean was just the price to pay for the information about the Colombian connection. A pay off. Then the film is finished and we can go home and rest on our beds with no fear. The most rotten police force and prosecuting branch of justice are watching over us and assessing who they are going to drag down into their nets to pay off some criminal for the little information he has provided them with about some cosmic scandal or surrealistic plot. That's when we regret not to be able to hitchhike our way out of this galaxy to go under another sun on another planet to sun our bones in peace and security. But that is certainly not in our beautiful cities. Enjoy the film, the stunts are great though the stuntmen are a little bit passive.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines


One of My Favorites Ever!
2007-11-27 - Keeping this short..."True Believer" is a film that my husband and I watch at least twice a year, and never get tired of! It's a superb combination of murder mystery, courtroom drama, and redemption story. Clever, quick-moving, superbly acted (with a dazzling performance from James Woods at the center), and full of delicious witty surprises, like the wonderful character of "Cecil (He likes it pronounced See-Sill) Skell", the much-needed witness who can re-open an old murder case, but who resides in a mental institution, and is convinced that the Telephone Company killed President Kennedy. A wonderful movie!

Contrived but excellent
2007-07-14 - James Woods is a top-notch lawyer, a former civil-rights watchdog now getting rich businessmen off on cocaine charges.

Then one day a Korean woman walks into his office and asks him to free her son, an innocent man who has spent 8 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Does he take the case?

You tell me.

It's all pretty boilerplate stuff, but Woods, Robert Downey, Jr and Kurtwood Smith elevate this tale, based on a true story, to art.