Movie Info

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...(read more...) young protégé (Robert Downey Jr.) convinces him to take one case from the heart: a young Chinese 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

Director: Joseph Ruben

MPAA: R

Running Time: 103 min.

Release Date: Jan 01, 1989

Cast: James Woods, Robert Downey Jr., Kurtwood Smith, Yuji Okumoto, Margaret Colin, Tom Bower, Luis Guzman, Charles Hallahan