High Crimes review

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Okay, so you've just learned that your partner has been living under a false name for the past 15 years. Not only that, but there's a good chance they're a psychopathic killer. You're suing for divorce faster than J-Lo, right?

Not if you're Claire Kubick (Ashley Judd). She's made of sterner stuff - and, as Hollywood luck would have it, she's also a lawyer. Which is kinda handy considering she's just discovered her husband (Jim Caviezel) is a covert military operative accused of participating in the wanton slaughter of El Salvadorean civilians. All she has to do is roll up her sleeves, grasp her briefcase and go to work, taking to thecourtroom to prove hubby's innocence.

Thing is, the combined might of the US government is piled up against her, meaning Claire's got as much chance of saving her man as Myra Hindley's got of getting parole. Fortunately, though, she's got a few good men on her side (well, two): greenhorn lawyer Lieutenant Terrence Embry (Adam Scott) and ex-military attorney Charles Grimes (Morgan Freeman), a Harley-riding drunkard who's keen to get back at the establishment that canned him years ago.

The Kiss The Girls partnership of Judd and Freeman is not the only thing that looks familiar in Carl Franklin's glossy but cliché-ridden thriller. Caviezel is again content to recycle his Haunted Weirdo act, all gaunt cheeks and pained eyes, while the courtroom action is so ploddingly predictable you half expect Bruce Davison's vindictive general to holler: "You can't handle the truth!" from the witness box. What's more, there's a nagging familiarity to seeing an adequate performance from Judd in a mundane movie. She may have the looks and talent to suggest A-list, but her recent output has included risible serial killer flick Eye Of The Beholder and barf-inducing tearjerkers Where The Heart Is and Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

High Crimes isn't about to change things - - even if it does give us the inimitable Mr Freeman shouting: ""Wake up and smell the napalm!""

A slick but empty potboiler with an ending you can see coming a mile off. Ashley Judd's boringly competent, while director Carl Franklin's excellent One False Move is a dim and distant memory.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Latest in Biography Movies
The Wolf of Wall Street
The 32 greatest Leonardo DiCaprio movies
Billy Zane as Marlon Brando in Waltzing with Brando
Upcoming Marlon Brando biopic gets its first look and fans cannot get over how uncanny Billy Zane looks: "I honestly thought this was Brando"
Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya, and Brandon Perea in Nope
Don't call Jordan Peele the best horror director - he'll tell you it's John Carpenter
James Cameron announces Avatar 2 has finished filming, Avatar 3 "95% done"
The Avatar sequels have a reported budget of $1 billion
New Avatar 2 set photos show James Cameron filming with underwater technology
Latest in Reviews
Lenovo Legion Go S with FlyKnight gameplay on screen featuring player character holding bow and arrow with enemy ant in backdrop.
Lenovo Legion Go S Windows 11 review: “my heart aches for this mixed up handheld”
Talisman 5th Edition game components
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 review: "A colossal package even if you never go anywhere near Virtual Currency"
Altered: Trial by Frost booster box and packs on a playmat
Altered: Trial by Frost review - "Satisfying enough to offer highly varied gameplay"
Three SteelSeries QcK Performance mouse pads on a wooden desk
I didn't expect to prefer a coarser mouse pad, but SteelSeries' new QcK Performance range has changed my mind
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"