The title of this film implies that that there will be moral considerations raised about the subject of guilt. It turns out that there will be an abundance of guilty people in constant interaction during this two-hour drama.
At the center of the story is a sleazy attorney, Callum Crane, who becomes a judge after committing a heinous act of assault of a young staff member in his law office. The balance of the film is a desperate effort on the part of the judge to eliminate all of the incriminating evidence and to silence the woman he abused when she attempts to blackmail him. Part of his master plan is murder.
The screenplay for "The Guilty" is a nonstop string of coincidences that bring together various subplots: (1) Crane's response to a blackmail threat from his victim, Sophie Lennon; (2) the untoward circumstances of the long-lost son of Crane, Nathan Corrigan, who has started a relationship with Sophie and has been hired by his father to kill her; (3) an adulterous affair that is taking place behind Crane's back with his wife and another attorney; and (4) an unsavory group of criminals who enter into the mix, due to Nathan's association with a young thug named Leo.
Bill Pulman's interpretation of the character of Callum Crane has far too much sympathy because too often he seems like a really nice guy. We see the conscience of Crane as he attempts to redeem himself after he has reached a point of no return. Likewise, Crane's bastard son was far too sensitive, decent, and honest to have ever spent time in prison for auto theft or to have become enmeshed with a troubled soul like Leo. The father and the son were simply too likable.
Despite the film's shortcomings, there were many creative touches in the multi-layered narrative. Hardly a minute goes by without some indication of the main emotional theme: guilt.
At the center of the story is a sleazy attorney, Callum Crane, who becomes a judge after committing a heinous act of assault of a young staff member in his law office. The balance of the film is a desperate effort on the part of the judge to eliminate all of the incriminating evidence and to silence the woman he abused when she attempts to blackmail him. Part of his master plan is murder.
The screenplay for "The Guilty" is a nonstop string of coincidences that bring together various subplots: (1) Crane's response to a blackmail threat from his victim, Sophie Lennon; (2) the untoward circumstances of the long-lost son of Crane, Nathan Corrigan, who has started a relationship with Sophie and has been hired by his father to kill her; (3) an adulterous affair that is taking place behind Crane's back with his wife and another attorney; and (4) an unsavory group of criminals who enter into the mix, due to Nathan's association with a young thug named Leo.
Bill Pulman's interpretation of the character of Callum Crane has far too much sympathy because too often he seems like a really nice guy. We see the conscience of Crane as he attempts to redeem himself after he has reached a point of no return. Likewise, Crane's bastard son was far too sensitive, decent, and honest to have ever spent time in prison for auto theft or to have become enmeshed with a troubled soul like Leo. The father and the son were simply too likable.
Despite the film's shortcomings, there were many creative touches in the multi-layered narrative. Hardly a minute goes by without some indication of the main emotional theme: guilt.