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True Believer (1989 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| True Believer | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Joseph Ruben |
| Produced by | Lawrence Lasker Walter F. Parkes |
| Written by | Wesley Strick |
| Starring | James Woods Robert Downey Jr. Margaret Colin Yuji Okumoto Kurtwood Smith |
| Music by | Brad Fiedel |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1989 |
| Running time | 108 min |
| IMDb profile | |
True Believer is a 1989 courtroom drama directed by Joseph Ruben and released by Columbia Pictures.
The film stars James Woods as burnt-out attorney Eddie Dodd, who has left behind civil rights work to defend drug dealers. Robert Downey Jr. plays Roger Baron, an idealistic young legal clerk fresh out of law school who encourages Dodd to take on the case of Shu Kai Kim, a young Korean man, played by Yuji Okumoto, who has been imprisoned for a gang-related murder. Kim's mother believes her son was wrongfully accused.
The film is loosely based on an investigative series of articles written by Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist K. W. Lee on the conviction of immigrant Chol Soo Lee for a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder. The news coverage led to a new trial, eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from San Quentin's Death Row. Screenwriter Wesley Strick based the character of Eddie Dodd on real-life Bay Area defense attorney Tony Serra.
Strick's screenplay was nominated for a 1990 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Motion Picture.