History Film / TrueBeliever

A 1989 American legal drama film directed by Joseph Ruben, starring Creator/JamesWoods, Creator/RobertDowneyJr, Creator/MargaretColin, Creator/KurtwoodSmith, and Yuji Okumoto.

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A 1989 film starring Creator/JamesWoods, Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/KurtwoodSmith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, welcoming the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case than meets the eye...

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

A 1989 film starring James Woods, Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/KurtwoodSmith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, welcoming the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case than meets the eye...

A 1989 film starring James Woods, Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/KurtwoodSmith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, welcoming the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case that meets the eye...

* AmoralAttorney: Roger feels Eddie has become this by the time of the film, due to making a living defending drug dealers after having fought for radical causes in the past. Eddie denies it and says opposing the war on drugs is a worthy cause too, though it's pretty clear he's fallen a long way from his glory days. [[spoiler: It turns out Robert Reynard ''really'' is one, since he framed a man to protect his source, apparently without any qualms.]]

A 1989 film starring James Woods, Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/KurtwoodSmith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, and welcomes the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She also maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case that meets the eye...

* HollywoodLaw: Eddie seems to defend them solely by arguing for jury nullification, citing the invasions of constitutional rights in the war on drugs, and saying they should find his client "not guilty" in protest. In reality, the prosecutor would immediately object when he started on anything except the evidence presented, and the judge would sustain. No respectable judge allows lawyers to argue for jury nullification in front of them. It's also somewhat unlikely his client would get a new trial due to just one eyewitness coming forward to say someone else committed the murder (and [[CloudCuckooLander a less than credible one at that]]). [[spoiler: It's forgotten as well that, although he didn't commit the murder he'd been sent to prison for, he ''did'' kill another inmate during a staged death match. It's mentioned the prosecution will make a deal for that if he pleads guilty to both crimes early on, but then that's dropped when he goes to trial on the original murder charge instead. He gets acquitted of that, but not for the prison killing. Presumably that charge was dropped too, but [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse it's never made clear]]]].

* MiscarriageOfJustice: [[spoiler: Shu Kai Kim was convicted of a murder he didn't commit due to false evidence presented by the police and prosecutor.]]

* HollywoodLaw: Eddie seems to defend them solely by arguing for jury nullification, citing the invasions of constitutional rights in the war on drugs, and saying they should find his client "not guilty" in protest. In reality, the prosecutor would immediately object when he started on anything except the evidence presented, and the judge would sustain. No respectable judge allows lawyers to argue for jury nullification in front of them. It's also somewhat unlikely his client would get a new trial due to just one eyewitness coming forward to say someone else committed the murder (and [[CloudCuckooLander a less than credible one at that]]). It's forgotten as well that, although he didn't commit the murder he'd been sent to prison for, he ''did'' kill another inmate during a staged death match. It's mentioned the prosecution will make a deal for that if he pleads guilty to both crimes early on, but then that's dropped when he goes to trial on the original murder charge instead. [[spoiler: He gets acquitted of that, but not for the prison killing. Presumably that charge was dropped too, but [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse it's never made clear]]]].

* WideEyedIdealist: Roger, and apparently Eddie in the past, which he regains by the end of the film (thus the title).
* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

* ClearTheirName: Eddie and Roger's goal on Shu Kai Kim's behalf. [[spoiler: By the end of the film, they succeed.]]

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

* AmoralAttorney: Roger feels Eddie has become this by the time of the film, due to making a living defending drug dealers after having fought for radical causes in the past. Eddie denies it and says opposing the war on drugs is a worthy cause too, though it's pretty clear he's fallen a long way from his glory days.

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

A 1989 film starring James Woods Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/Kurtwood Smith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, and welcomes the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She also maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case that meets the eye...

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

A 1989 film starring James Woods Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Kurtwood Smith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When the idealistic young lawyer Roger Baron (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this, and welcomes the plea of a mother whose son is facing a murder charge stemming from a gang-related prison fight. She also maintains her son Shu Kai Kim is also innocent of the murder which sent him there to begin with. Dodd has his doubts, but agrees to take the original case, winning a retrial where he soon faces off in court against Robert Reynard, the district attorney and an old foe. It quickly transpired there is far more to the case that meets the eye...

* PrisonGang: Shu Kai Kim is a member of La Fraternidad, a prison gang that consists of not only Latinos (as the name suggests) but also Asians such as himself, to oppose the Aryan Army and Black Avengers. His death duel with a member of the Aryans starts the film and sets off the plot.

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

* WorthyOpponent: District Attorney Robert Reynard considers Eddie this, speaking admiringly of how he once defeated an entire team of prosecutors that included Reynard while defending members of the Black Panther Party.

A 1989 film starring James Woods Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Kurtwood Smith, ''True Believer'' revolves around former radical attorney Eddie Dodd (Woods), whose practice now consists mostly of defending known drug dealers. When an idealistic young lawyer named (Downey) joins his practice, he is soon disgusted by this.

* HollywoodLaw: Eddie Dodd seems to defend them solely by arguing for jury nullification, citing the invasions of constitutional rights in the war on drugs, and saying they should find his client "not guilty" in protest. In reality, the prosecutor would immediately object when he started on anything except the evidence presented, and the judge would sustain. No respectable judge allows lawyers to argue for jury nullification in front of them. It's also somewhat unlikely his client would get a new trial due to just one eyewitness coming forward to say someone else committed the murder (and [[CloudCuckooLander a less than credible one at that]]). It's forgotten as well that, although he didn't commit the murder he'd been sent to prison for, he ''did'' kill another inmate during a staged death match. It's mentioned the prosecution will make a deal for that if he pleads guilty to both crimes early on, but then that's dropped when he goes to trial on the original murder charge instead. [[spoiler: He gets acquitted of that, but not for the prison killing. Presumably that charge was dropped too, but [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse it's never made clear]]]].
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Shu Kai Kim was identified as the killer in a lineup. Eddie Dodd tries to get the cop who supervised the lineup to admit that all of the other people in it were Chinese, while Kim is Korean, which could have helped set him apart from the decoys. The question is stricken by the judge, however, who rules that the detective is not an expert in ethnicity and could not distinguish between them by sight alone. ''Plus'' Kim had long hair and goatee (resembling the killer) which none of the rest did. Also, he was accused of committing a murder to get into a ''Chinese''-American gang, which no one seems to find odd. To top it off, the actor playing the suspect is a Japanese-American.