The Accused
Promotional movie poster for The Accused
Directed by	Jonathan Kaplan
Produced by	Stanley R. Jaffe Sherry Lansing
Written by	Tom Topor
Starring	Kelly McGillis Jodie Foster
Music by	Brad Fiedel
Cinematography	Ralf D. Bode
Editing by	O. Nicholas Brown Gerard B. Greenberg
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	October 14, 1988
Running time	111 min.
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$6,000,000 (estimated)

The Accused is a 1988 drama film starring Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Tom Topor. Foster was awarded the 1988 Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for her performance.

Based on the real-life gang rape of Cheryl Araujo that occurred at Big Dan's Bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts on March 6, 1983, this film was one of the first Hollywood films to deal with rape in a direct manner.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Main cast 3 Production 4 Critical and scholarly reaction 5 Box Office reception 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot

The story is about a working-class woman, Sarah Tobias (Foster), labeled as promiscuous. One night in a bar, she is viciously gang-raped by several drunk bar patrons, while drunken onlookers cheer them on. A district attorney, Kathryn Murphy (McGillis), is assigned to the rape case, but she is convinced by her superiors to let the rapists plead guilty to reckless endangerment and get a sentence that allows parole in less than a year. Sarah is angered by the deal because she considers it a light punishment and because she did not get to tell her story in court.

When Sarah is hospitalized after ramming her car into a pickup truck, whose driver (one of the witnesses who encouraged the rapists) crudely propositions her, Kathryn decides to prosecute the men who cheered the rape for criminal solicitation. Sarah's friend Sally, a waitress at the bar where the rape took place, picks three men out of a line-up, and they get three different attorneys for the ensuing trial. Sarah testifies that she was raped, while college student Kenneth Joyce, whose friend was one of the rapists, testifies to watching the rape prior to making a 911 call. After Kathryn's closing statement and a single summation from the three defense lawyers, the jury deliberates for a long time, asking several times for Ken's testimony to be reread to them. At the end, they find the three men guilty.

[edit] Main cast

• Kelly McGillis - A.D.A. Kathryn Murphy
• Jodie Foster - Sarah Tobias
• Bernie Coulson - Kenneth Joyce
• Leo Rossi - Cliff "Scorpion" Albrect
• Ann Hearn - Sally Fraser
• Carmen Argenziano - D.A. Paul Rudolph
• Steve Antin - Bob Joiner
• Tom O'Brien - Larry
• Peter Van Norden - Attorney Paulsen
• Terry David Mulligan - Lieutenant Duncan
• Woody Brown - Danny
• Scott Paulin - Attorney Ben Wainwright

[edit] Production

Originally, Sigourney Weaver and Kelly McGillis were going to star as the A.D.A. and Sarah respectively. Jonathan Kaplan feared that Jodie Foster wasn't sexy enough and decided to cast Kim Basinger for the part of Sarah; however, Basinger declined. Molly Ringwald, a popular teen idol of the time, wanted badly the role of Sarah, but her parents turned down her offer because they feared she didn't want to play a twenty-something hooker at a young age. Kaplan gave Foster the part and her performance in the film was ultimately praised.

[edit] Critical and scholarly reaction

Of the two trials in the film, Roger Ebert finds that the lesson of the "second trial may be the most important message this movie has to offer," that "for some men, the movie will reveal a truth that most women already know," of the damage caused by verbal sexual harassment.^[1]

Some educators worry that this "educationally profitable" film's R rating "will receive V ratings and be subject to at least a presumption against curricular use in many public schools."^[2]

[edit] Box Office reception

The film was a critical success garnering a 95% fresh rating on "Rotten tomatoes". It performed moderately at the box office with a total gross of $32,078,318 but is considered a success considering its $6 million budget.^{[3] [4]}

[edit] See also

• Aestheticization of violence, an article which includes a discussion of Kaplan's use of a violent rape scene in The Accused.
• List of films based on actual events

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Accused at the Internet Movie Database
• The Accused at Rotten Tomatoes
• Movie stills

v • d • e Films directed by Jonathan Kaplan Night Call Nurses (1972) · The Student Teachers (1973) · The Slams (1973) · Truck Turner (1974) · White Line Fever (1975) · Mr. Billion (1977) · Over the Edge (1979) · Heart Like a Wheel (1983) · Project X (1987) · The Accused (1988) · Immediate Family (1989) · Unlawful Entry (1992) · Love Field (1992) · Bad Girls (1994) · Brokedown Palace (1999)