Absence of Malice (1981)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writer:

Kurt Luedtke (written by)

Release Date:

18 December 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Suppose you picked up this morning's newspaper and your life was a front page headline... And everything they said was accurate... But none of it was true.

Plot:

Michael Colin Gallagher is the son of a long dead Mafia boss who is a simple liquor warehouse owner...

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Murder | Mafia | Slander | Media

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Michael Colin Gallagher
Sally Field	...	Megan Carter
Bob Balaban	...	Elliott Rosen
Melinda Dillon	...	Teresa Perrone
Luther Adler	...	Uncle Santos Malderone
Barry Primus	...	Bob Waddell
Josef Sommer	...	McAdam
John Harkins	...	Davidek
Don Hood	...	Dist. Atty. James A. Quinn
Wilford Brimley	...	Asst. U.S. Atty. Gen. James A. Wells
Arnie Ross	...	FBI Agent Eddie Frost
Anna Marie Napoles	...	Nickie
Shelley Spurlock	...	Sarah Wylie
Shawn McAllister	...	Santos Hood 1
Joe Petrullo	...	Santos Hood 2

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:12 | USA:PG (certificate #26332) | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Coral Gables, Florida, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Paul Newman and director Sydney Pollack were both gourmet chefs and had a running culinary competition throughout filming with Sally Field as the judge. Though a good sport at first, Sally grew tired of eating gourmet night after night, and began begging off her judging duties in favor of hamburgers and omelettes at local diners.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The union workers who struck Michael told him that if their union cards were pulled they would not be able to work anywhere. Florida is a right to work state and you don't need to have a union card to work. They would be considered "scabs" but they would be able to work at any dock in Miami.

Quotes:

James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General: Tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna sit right here and talk about it. Now if you get tired of talking here, Mr. Marshal Elving Patrick there will hand you one of them subpoenas he's got stuck down in his pocket and we'll go downstairs and talk in front of the grand jury... Elliot? Jim?... Fine. All right, Elving, hand whichever one of these fellas you like a subpoena and we'll go on downstairs and talk in front of the grand jury.
District Attorney James A. Quinn: Gallagher's a government witness.
James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General: Wonderful thing, a subpoena.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Seinfeld: The Junk Mail (#9.5)" (1997)

How to outsmart a covey of smartasses

Mighty good drama depicting corruption in the justice department intending, on the surface, to solve a crime, but, beneath the waters, to further political careers. Sally Field played the self centered, self deluded reporter perfectly against Newman's confused, angry victim. Worth seeing.