THE ACCUSED

Ok, now for a bit of time travel. All the way back to 1988. Oscars ®. Ok, anyone know who won Best Actress that year? No cheating mind! Yes? No? Give up? Jodie Foster. One of my favorite actresses by far, so naturally I was curious. A pretty interesting story too – so I decided to take a look at it…
The afore-mentioned story goes as follows: Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster) is a waitress who lives in a trailer park with her drug-dealer boyfriend. One night, after a particularly unpleasant fight with said boyfriend she goes to a bar to chat to a friend and blow off some steam. At the bar she has a few drinks, smokes some grass and flirts a little. However her antics take a wrong turn and she ends up being gang-raped. She runs to the police determined to drag the men through the courts, however there is a problem. The men in question are “fraternity” guys with “connections”. She is a penniless waitress who was drunk on the night and who is known to usually have a few drinks too many. Thus the D.A.’s office, that is meant to protect her, doesn’t consider her a “strong case” and will not stand by her like they should. Sarah, along with the assistant D.A. assigned to the case must use courage and wits if she wants to stand up and be heard..
Now, the story is your common or garden courtroom drama. It’s interesting as I think it gives an accurate enough picture of the system and a woman’s place in the system in the 80’s. Speaking of the 80’s the film is sooo 80’s you can’t help but notice it. The characters. The way the story progresses. The editing. The rapists and the “spectators”. Dear Lord, the hair and costumes... But what makes this otherwise rather ordinary film extraordinary is Jodie Foster. Her performance as Sarah Tobias, down and out as far as society is concerned but determined to have what is owed to her simply shines through. Sarah is not a character you can necessarily “bond with” that easily... But of course the storyline and Ms Foster’s extraordinary performance make her entirely real...
However, I must hasten to add that one Jodie Foster does not make a masterpiece. The film is good but not brilliant. It’s still pretty damn exciting though – definitely make the time for it...