Reversible Errors (2004)

"Reversible Errors" seems to have been a TV movie, based on the Scott Turow novel, and starring William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Tom Selleck, Monica Potter, and Shemar Moore.The story concerns a triple murder for which one man, played by Glenn Plummer, confesses to a police detective, Larry Starczek (Selleck) and is condemned to death by a judge (Huffman) after a bench trial. It's a career maker for the young prosecutor, Muriel Wynn (Potter) having an affair with Starczek.Fast forward to seven years later - the judge now works at a perfume counter, having been removed from the bench for taking bribes; Muriel Wynn is married and running for office; Starczek is still a detective; and Gandolf, one sandwich short of a picnic, is still on Death Row and now proclaims his innocence. He is assigned attorney Arthur Raven (Macy) who reluctantly looks into the case. The more he looks into it, the more confusing and messy it gets.Complicated, strong story made even better by the team of Macy and Huffman, who are wonderful and on a much higher level than Selleck-Potter. Potter, with her flat delivery, has always reminded me somehow of Julia Roberts, and every time I hear her name I think of the old I Love Lucy episode when Ethel returned to her home town: 'Ethel Mae Potter, we never forgot her.' Selleck is handsome and comes across as a detective, but in actuality, this is a character role, and he's not a character actor. There's no spark between them. There is some very good acting by Plummer, Moore, and James Rebhorn.I recognized several Canadian actors, so I guess this was filmed there.I found this an involving story and one really becomes interested in the Macy-Huffman relationship. Recommended.

Although "Reversible Errors" is basically a courtroom drama, its big strength lies in the fact that it is in fact much more than that. As I will explain later, the plot is weaved on the intersecting relationships of two couples (Selleck/Potter and Macey/Huffman), whose complexities define the course of events.The story starts with Arthun Raven (Macey), quitting the prosecutor's office due to a personal tragedy. His colleague Muriel Wynn (Potter) asks him a last favor: Could he drop to Judge Gillian Sullivan's (Huffman) home, to get a warrant for a new case she has been assigned with her lover Sgt. Larry Starczek (Selleck)? Raven agrees, and this is how he makes his first encounter with an enigmatic woman he will fall in love with later on.The case Starzek and Wynn are working on is a triple homicide, and things seem to clear-up very fast: Squirrel (Plummer), a small-time crook, is caught and confesses to the murders, and Judge Sullivan sentences him to death. The arresting duo gets their dues, and especially Potter is set for a shining career path.However, seven years later, everything gets turned upside down. Sullivan is no longer a judge, as she has been convicted and jailed for graft. On top of that, she has also received a letter by Erdai (Rebhorn), a dying inmate who claims he is the perpetrator of the old triple crime, and this haunts her conscience for perhaps having sentenced an innocent man to death. Enter Raven, who coincidentally has just been assigned to represent Squirrel in his last weeks before his execution. Raven quickly believes in Squirrel's innocence, and begins a harried crusade to save his life, getting Sullivan on board as well. However, things now have gotten complicated, as the former duo of Selleck and Potter is by no means willing let him destroy their precious case due to the dubious testimony of a dying crook. A dirty race begins for the ultimate search of the truth, and a clash becomes inevitable.Scott Turow's excellent story is lengthy and complex; after all the movie lasts nearly three hours. And yet, at no point does the viewer get bored. There are no visible plot gaps, and the pace is steady and fast. Moreover, there some great twists throughout the film, so it is easily understandable why the three hours pass so quickly and enjoyably.And yet, although the plot is very good, the strength of the film lies elsewhere: In the development of the characters and their relationships. These are four completely different persons: The inexperienced but overly ambitious Potter, the introvert and ethical Raven, the erratic but well-intentioned Sullivan, and the experienced but perhaps hypocrite Selleck. Director Mike Robe studies each character in depth, and artfully shows us how everyone interacts with everyone else in this complex and evil web.An undiscovered gem, "RE" is a movie really worth seeing. 8/10.

"Reversible Errors" is a three hour film noir TV B-movie which tells a convoluted tale of a homicide cop (Selleck), his prosecutor lover (Potter), a defense attorney (Macy), and a judge (Huffman) who all become involved in a triple homicide investigation, a possible wrongful conviction, and another investigation to find the real killer(s). As the film wends its way toward its feel good conclusion - which seems too long in coming - it delves into sex, scandal, drugs, deceit, conspiracy, politics, infidelity, and more all served up in good old fashioned Hollywood movie style; not particularly convincing or believable but not ashamed about it either. A mildly entertaining whodunit which does an acceptable job of covering it's low budgetness with a mediocre score, Canadian locations, and an uneven production which focuses on the characters in a handful of sets (court, prison, lawyer offices, etc.), this PG-13ish film will make a so-so no brainer lets-stay-in-tonight TV watch for the not too jaded or discriminating. (B-)

Wm. H. Macy and Felicity Huffman make it worth watching.Turow's complex novel has been dumbed down to fit the mini-series format, but that's a trifle. Watch it for the magic that Macy and Huffman bring to small screen.These are two stars who would not get big screen attention as romantic leads, but their performances sing here, given a chance to play center stage.Watch how Huffman, as a disbarred and disgraced judge, plays her scene at the dept. store cosmetic counter. In a matter of seconds, she expresses purposeful employment, unguarded hope, crumbling shame, and icy self-contempt.Macy's opening scene on Labor Day weekend, packing up his office, brings his character to life with uncommon line readings. This script is hardly Mamet, but Macy's skill raises the level of the writing. He clips off one line, talking about his sister's death: "Better this way, instead of her living like a ..." He never says the word vegetable, as if he recognizes the inadequacy of the cliché. No he's not commenting on the script, but letting the character halt himself before dishonoring his dead sibling with dead metaphors.Let's hope this husband and wife team both get Emmy Awards for such remarkable work. And let's hope we see more of them on the big screen too.