Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

thesar-2 Not to get all political, but this movie, now 25 years old – and still one of my all-time favorites, holds up today. Meaning, I've been hearing a lot of recent chatter from a lot of outspoken conservative stations and advocates that women that dress proactively probably deserves the rape she got.Now, I'm sure that's a select few radicals – and sad, pathetic and misled idiots – but, that's what The Accused is mostly about.Enter Jodie Foster's first well-deserved Oscar for Sarah Tobias. She's partying, drinking and doping at a dive bar when a trio of bad men gang rape her, in the bar, in plain sight. Enter (should've also won an Oscar) Kelly McGillis as DA lawyer Kathryn Murphy who cares about winning a case against the rapists. Unfortunately for Sarah, this slam-dunk win would involve plea bargaining and lessens the meaning of justice and level of pain Sarah had to endure.In one of my all-time favorite scenes, and one that chokes me up each and every time I revisit this movie, Sarah confronts Kathryn in her home at Kathryn's high-class dinner party and lets her know she has no feelings. I just summed it up, without trying to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it.But, it needed to be printed, because that's the main course of the film: Justice, and redemption, for Sarah, means getting ice-cold Kathryn to melt a little and fight harder for Sarah and any woman that never, ever deserves to be raped.Of course, the movie portrays Sarah as "a low life, trailer-trash, pot-smoking drunk," but never once…there's NEVER A MOMENT that I ever switch sides and feel she deserved it. I've been a juror twice – and an alternative once, and I know you have to listen to all the evidence first, but it would be extremely hard for me to not immediately make up my mind within the opening remarks.That all said, this is a powerful, interesting, emotionally driven and thought provoking film that should be seen by all. It's incredibly well shot and absolutely had Oscar-worthy performances by the two leads."You don't understand how I feel! I'm standing there with my pants down and my crotch hung out for the world to see and three guys are sticking it to me, a bunch of other guys are yelling and clapping and you're standing there telling me that that's the best you can do. Well, if that's the best you could do, then your best sucks! Now, I don't know what you got for selling me out, but I sure as sh|t hope it was worth it!" – Sarah Tobias.Tell me, she didn't deserve her 1st Oscar.

Joxerlives The Accused came at a time when attitudes towards sex crimes was very much changing. It is commendable that it is actually so even handed, Jodie Foster's character goes to the police who believe her and their investigation is faultless. After we get into the courts things get trickier, Kelly McGillis DA must balance the demand for a trial with the appeal for a plea bargain which will spare the victim the ordeal and have more certainty of a conviction. Is she right or is she wrong? Once we get to the part where they start to prosecute the other bar patrons for cheering on the rapists you're really placed in a moral quandary, should these men be prosecuted even though they placed no part in the crime? Did they in a dark and noisy bar having been drinking all night even realise what was going on?Goes without saying that we have terrific performances from Foster and McGillis (whatever happened to her? with this, Top Gun and Witness she was a massive star in 1980s but then just seemed to stop making films altogether?). It's a brave decision in that Foster's character to basically be the DA's nightmare witness, admitting that she was drunk and drugged, had been dressed provocatively and dancing suggestively with her attackers (her strengths are that she has visible injuries and reported the crime immediately). The rape scene itself is horrible (never actually watched it, just fast forwarded through)but necessary to bring home the enormity of the crime.The ending is pretty downbeat and somehow a little disappointing although what did we expect? A good film although hard to watch

pabald9480 This movie was brilliantly acted, by Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, at least. However, it's also very hard to watch at times, not to mention infuriating, esp. the rape scene. On the other hand, certain scenes involving the justice system, are pretty angering as well. Don't get me wrong, it is a good movie and very powerful, but anyone-male or female, with any compassion for rape victims regardless of the circumstances, and this "she was asking for it" doesn't fly well with me, either, only a chauvinist would think that! Well, once again, I'm obviously wrong because a lot of men think with the head below the waist instead of their brain. For the record, 98% of the time, I have little to no compassion for rapists, but I do believe slow-minded people can be forced into things, but that is clearly not the case in this film. These men knew exactly what they were doing, and didn't care, that infuriated me!

Michael Neumann The shocking true story of a bar room gang rape is lifted from the headlines to become, with dramatic license, a serious and troubling study of sexism at its worst, when the victim herself is accused of 'asking for it'. Jodie Foster offers a courageous performance as the tough but vulnerable Sarah Tobias, whose behavior on the night of the crime was certainly provocative, but as the flashback re-enactment shows all too clearly no amount of provocation could justify such a brutal response. Up until those final scenes the film is a well-crafted but largely conventional topical drama, with lots of predictable bonding between Foster and her conscience stricken attorney Kelly McGillis. But the attack itself, teasingly saved until the final reel, is so graphic and degrading it obliterates the memory of everything that happened earlier. The scene is pure exploitation, but it serves a purpose, putting audiences in the same, ugly position as the cheering onlookers in the bar, who in many ways were even guiltier than the rapists themselves.