Cameron Wayne Johnson’s review published on Letterboxd:
I'd probably quote the White Zombie song of the same name if there was a remote possibility that I wouldn't hate myself right after, especially in the presence of a fellow jazz cat, although, by 1999, Clint Eastwood was starting to look like a white zombie. I can see why Isaiah Washington took on this project, because even he had to have been worn out on the heavy-handed Spike Lee joints, and wanted to get the conservative, old cracker's perspective of a black man being possibly falsely accused of murder. You know, watching this in 2015, I can't look at this without think about HBO's "True Detectives", but, no, Eastwood has apparently gotten so old and toned-down that he's gone from a law enforcer to, of all things, a journalist. Hey, he's a journalist covering the execution of a rather misunderstood criminal, so you do have give this film credit for portraying a much more hardcore Truman Capote, although Eastwood not kicking butt was still anything but a selling point of moviegoers. I guess Eastwood, with this film, is having another, pre-"Mystic River" go at making a dramatic answer to all of his action-packed crime thrillers to go with "Unforgiven", his dramatic answer to all of his action-packed westerns, after "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" all but bombed, but this puppy did even worse at the box office. Forget his previous crime-themed thrillers, because this is probably more like Eastwood's apology for 1996's "True Crime", with Alicia Silverstone and Kevin Dillon (Oh yeah, sounds great), but this wasn't too greater of a success. I guess the "true crime" to moviegoers was Eastwood going a little soft on us, and I guess that makes those people idiots, because I for one find this to be a very good movie, for all the shortcomings.
This is one of those films in which Clint Eastwood's directorial delicacy thrives, mostly with the help of very complex writing, and when the storytelling does make an effort to really pump things up, it sometimes overcompensates in a heavy-handed way film this smart should be above, rendering the most blunt dramatic heights plagued with cloying atmospherics, while writing, throughout the course of this effort, slips into overt snap with the dialogue, if not some fairly stereotypical moments with the characterization. Aside from a peculiarly action-packed final act, the hiccups in character drawing are particularly frustrating with how they contradict the substance and complexity of the roles, though the archetypal touches are all but to be expected when Paul Brickman's, Larry Gross' and Stephen Schiff's script succumbs to as many conventions as it does, as a dialogue-driven criminal justice drama that throws more formulaic touches than it ought to over themes and story elements that are inherently familiar. With a film that tries so hard to be creative in key areas, these equally key slips into formula really shine a light on any boundary established around a story that can cut only so deep when its spark thrives on the occasionally thinned characterization and periodically blunt thematic value, offsetting a rather minimalist, talky narrative that is hard enough to charge when it isn't overblown in execution. Maybe the plot isn't necessarily overblown with how it juggles focus on the lead's personal life and investigation, and on how a criminal lives what may be his last moments of life, but it certainly feels disjointed when each layer finds itself outstaying its welcome by way of repetitively exhaustive material, if that. Oftentimes, there's pretty much nothing dragging this film to its questionable runtime of 127 minutes, and in those moments of aimlessness, there are hints of dullness to the direction that stick just firmly enough for you to get yet more taste for the natural and consequential shortcomings through the inspiration. This film is sometimes so well-done that it could have flirted with standing out, but its story concept really is a little too minimalist for all that much potential to stand, which isn't to say that there isn't enough for momentary heavy-handedness, recurring conventions and excesses to do a disservice. Nevertheless, I found myself more rewarded than a lot of people have been with this smart, tasteful and, of course, well-directed drama.
This film saw Clint Eastwood continuing to come into his own as a more dramatic filmmaker whose steady atmosphere and storytelling were more compatible with relatively subtle and resonant material, meeting every bland spot with a good bit of relative liveliness that goes anchored by a sense of importance and natural intrigue. There are subtle tensions throughout this drama, and when the blunt emotional heights bond with and go restrained by the thoughtfulness, they prove moving, though what can truly make or break the depth of his very intimate affair is how the human factor stands in the acting. Eastwood, as director, gets a lot of good performances out of a talent roster that is not always perfectly selected, its miscasts being compensated for through a number of secondary charismas with impacting dramatic notes, and a pair of central performances by Eastwood and Isaiah Washington that carry the final product. The latter steals the show in his intensely emotional portrayal of a redeemed criminal facing death for a crime he may not have committed, and the former, while certainly not as sympathetic as he was in something like "Unforgiven", infuses plenty of grounded vulnerability and subtle depths into his electric charisma, so the acting certainly shows this film's awareness of its story's potential. Yes, novelist Andrew Klavan's vision is limited in its potential because of hints of convention and glaring plot minimalism, but it certainly boasts an involving mystery, made all the more compelling by the occasional worthwhile social allegory and plenty of deeply human dramatics, so value does stand firm, fulfilled to some extent by honest direction, strong acting and, of course, some really solid scripting. A screenwriting triad usually leads to some compatibility issues and flimsiness, and sure, this film's writing hits some major missteps, particularly with structure, but when Paul Brickman's, Larry Gross' and Stephen Schiff's script really tightens up, it livens things up with dialogue that is mostly downright stellar, with a wit, bite and dynamicity that beget anything from dynamite comic relief to captivating confrontations, all in a reflection of a sophistication further encompassed in some very complex, if somewhat archetypal characterization, as well as in equally complex storytelling that proves genuinely unpredictable in its progression, and in how it smoothly incorporates weighty thematic and dramatic layers. This is a very smart, very competent film, it's just that those distinct missteps go a long way in emphasizing the limitations on this subject matter, though the ultimate point is that this drama is inspired enough to compel pretty solidly throughout its course.
With the story wrapped, a bit of heavy-handedness and a great deal of convention limit the value of an already rather minimalist story concept, whose execution is so drawn out and, to a certain extent, disjointed that the final product drags short of its true potential, which is indeed there within complex subject matter, done justice by smartly inspired direction, acting and writing that fasten Clint Eastwood's "True Crime" as a compellingly dynamic and inspired portrait on a man's struggle to bring another true justice.
3.5/5 - Good