CrimeDramaThriller

An Innocent Man

- Falsely accused. Unjustly convicted. Determined to survive on the inside. Demanding justice once he's on the outside.

Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a major drug dealer. Rainwood is shot, and the officers frame him as a drug dealer. Rainwood is convicted of drug dealing, based on the perjured evidence of a police informant. Thrown into a seedy jail, fighting to prove his innocence is diffucult when he has to deal with the realities of prison life, where everyone claims they were framed.

Release Date : 1989-10-06

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Touchstone PicturesInterscope CommunicationsSilver Screen Partners IV

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Jimmie Rainwood

Original Name : Tom Selleck

Gender : Male

Character Name : Virgil Cane

Original Name : F. Murray Abraham

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kate Rainwood

Original Name : Laila Robins

Gender : Female

Character Name : Detective Mike Parnell LBPD

Original Name : David Rasche

Gender : Male

Character Name : Robby

Original Name : Todd Graff

Gender : Male

Character Name : Malcolm

Original Name : M.C. Gainey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Peter Feldman

Original Name : Peter Van Norden

Gender : Male

Character Name : Danny Scalise

Original Name : Richard Young

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Fitzgerald

Original Name : Badja Djola

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jingles

Original Name : Bruce A. Young

Gender : Male

Character Name : Junior

Original Name : James T. Morris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Felix

Original Name : Terry Golden

Gender : Male

Character Name : Butcher

Original Name : Dennis Burkley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stevie

Original Name : Charle Landry

Gender : Male

Character Name : Zeke

Original Name : Tobin Bell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Albert

Original Name : Scott Jaeck

Gender : Male

Character Name : Yvonne

Original Name : Holly Fulger

Gender : Female

Character Name : Judge Kenneth Lavet

Original Name : Philip Baker Hall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Freebery

Original Name : J. Kenneth Campbell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Convict - Robby's Death

Original Name : Jim Ortlieb

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man on Tuna Boat

Original Name : James Staszkiel

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man on Tuna Boat

Original Name : Brian J. Williams

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stacy

Original Name : Maggie Baird

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lester

Original Name : Derek Anunciation

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woznick

Original Name : Ben Slack

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joseph Donatelli

Original Name : J.J. Johnston

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nate Blitman

Original Name : Brian Brophy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cop at Jimmie's

Original Name : Ben Rawnsley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mike

Original Name : Dean Hill

Gender : Male

Character Name : Officer at Bust

Original Name : Jack Orend

Gender : Male

Character Name : Donatelli's Dealer

Original Name : Ernie Lively

Gender : Male

Character Name : Basketball

Original Name : Larry Brothers

Gender : Male

Character Name : Court Clerk

Original Name : Dave Florek

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Joseph Carberry

Gender : Male

Character Name : Prosecuting Attorney

Original Name : Dann Florek

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bailiff

Original Name : Doug MacHugh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Inmate

Original Name : Lare Roberts

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dove

Original Name : Thomas B. Kackert

Gender : Male

Character Name : Handjob

Original Name : Vito Peterson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Convict Torturer

Original Name : Alanniss Allddero

Gender : Male

Character Name : Venucci

Original Name : Bob Maroff

Gender : Male

Character Name : Convict

Original Name : David Rhodes Brown

Gender : Male

Character Name : Guard

Original Name : Jeffrey Earl Young

Gender : Male

Character Name : Warden

Original Name : Michael J. Budge

Gender : Male

Character Name : Correctional Officer

Original Name : David Meligan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fritz

Original Name : Ron Collins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Courthouse Guard

Original Name : Gary Velasco

Gender : Male

Character Name : Courthouse Guard

Original Name : Robert E. Nichols

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

That's Virgil Cane man, Lone Ranger ain't got nothing on him. James Rainwood (Tom Selleck) is a real stand up guy, with a loving wife and in a dream job with a company that just couldn't cope without him. His life is just dandy, That is until two corrupt cops make a mistake and burst into his home believing it to be host to a drug deal. Thinking his hairdryer is a gun, one of the cops shoots Rainwood and it's then that the cops realise they have made a monumental error. So planting drugs around the home they set Rainwood up as a dealer who shot at the cops. Believing justice & honesty will see him OK, Rainwood refuses to cop a plea, and is promptly sentenced to a hell hole prison for six years. Here the affable Rainwood needs to wise up quickly or face a brutal and torrid time in the big house. Earlier in 1989 we had seen the release of Sly Stallone vehicle Lock Up, a film, that for all its many faults, was a dream come true to the action movie fan who also has a bent for any piece involving incarceration. So up steps Tom Selleck, who after recently showing himself to be a more than effective light entertainer in films such as Three Men and a Baby and Her Alibi, is looking to break out into other, more rounded genres (he also made the quite excellent Quigley Down Under in 1989). For the most part it's a good fit for Selleck and the casting director. The role of Jimmie Rainwood calls for someone charming, elegant and reeking of pure homeliness. That's Selleck without doubt. But the problems for many observers have been, and will be for first time viewers, the transformation of homely Tom into cocksure daddio prison geezer. Thrust into a world of violence and male rape, Rainwood simply must shape up or face a few years of brutality and a stripping of his soul. We know this, and once he starts to be guided by Virgil Cane (F. Murray Abraham adding a touch of class to a stereotypical role), the film for the rest of the prison sections is sign posted for us. And it's hard to swallow, even for someone like me who is a fan of the film! As for the other elements in the film, the various sub-plots hold few surprises. Rainwood's wife (Laila Robins) is loving and crusading for her man's release, but writer Larry Brothers has her very much by the numbers. As he does for Badja Djola's Internal Affairs investigator, John Fitzgerald. The latter of which is a real shame as Djola holds his scenes very well and is aching to put more meat into the character. Then there is of course our dirty cops played by Richard Young & David Rasche. Young's Danny Scaliese is the calm thinking one, Rasche's Mike Parnell is the aggressive and borderline psychotic one. It's hard to tell if Rasche is playing it for ham or really attempting to layer the madness lurking within? Either way, it's very entertaining, if ultimately miles away from the brilliance that was his Sledge Hammer! TV series. These cops are of course in desperate need of a fall, the question is if the makers here are merely reverting to formula or do they have some tricks up their sleeves? Well it's directed by Peter Yates and the writer is hardly an inspired scribe, so you do the maths. And lets face it, Selleck is no Stallone - a better actor for sure, but when it comes to shanking and shooting who you gonna call? Rambo or Magnum? I do like the film a lot, but I love the genre it belongs to anyway. And I literally will watch Abraham in anything. So take my 7/10 rating purely with a pinch of salt and call it a 6/10 time filler if you not be singing of the same page as myself.