Music Box (1989)
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75% of critics liked it
(16 reviews) -
73% of users liked it
(2,777 ratings)
Jessica Lange plays an attorney whose affable Hungarian-immigrant father Armin Mueller-Stahl is arrested. He is threatened with deportation for lying about his activities during World War II; part of the charge is that Mueller-Stahl was a Nazi collaborationist, guilty of wartime atrocities.… More Jessica Lange plays an attorney whose affable Hungarian-immigrant father Armin Mueller-Stahl is arrested. He is threatened with deportation for lying about his activities during World War II; part of the charge is that Mueller-Stahl was a Nazi collaborationist, guilty of wartime atrocities. Absolutely convinced that her father is being railroaded by a revenge-seeking Hungarian communist government, Lange handles Mueller-Stahl's defense, expertly blowing huge holes in prosecuting attorney Frederic Forrest's case. But in doing her own research, Lange discovers that her father has spent a lifetime paying off a blackmailer. Why? In contrast to the fervency of his earlier Z, Costa-Gavras refuses to make things easy by proselytizing in The Music Box (nor does screenwriter Joe Esterhas indulge in his usual right-between-the-eyes fervency). Everything in the film is offered on the same calm, collected level, making the ultimate horror of the story all the more effective. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Costa-Gavras
- Written By
- Joe Eszterhas
- Genres
- Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Mystery & Suspense
- On DVD
- May 20, 2003
- Studio
- TriStar Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
Amazingly, director Costa-Gavras and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas navigate these perilous waters smoothly.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Jessica Lange received Best Actress Oscar nomination for Costa-Gavras' improbable father-daughter political melodrama.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
...a stand-alone example of a full-bodied courtroom drama.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Failed to be affecting.
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Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
The script by Hollywood's controversial writer Joe Eszterhas is strictly edge of the seat material.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
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Cast
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Jessica Lange
as Ann Talbot
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Armin Mueller-Stahl
as Michael Laszlo
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Frederic Forrest
as Jack Burke
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Donald Moffat
as Harry Talbot
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Lukas Haas
as Michael "Mikey" Talbot
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Cheryl Lynn Bruce
as Georgine Wheeler
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Edward Blatchford
as Young Man
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J.S. Block
as Judge Erwin Silver
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Larry Brandenburg
as John Staley
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Elzbieta Czyzewska
as Melinda Kalman
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Toni Fleming
as Housekeeper
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Ralph Foody
as Pawn Broker
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Sol Frieder
as Istvan Boday
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Nicholas J. Giangiulio
as Loop Group
- Michael C. Gwynne
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Albert Hall
as Mack Jones
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Gábor Koncz
as Limo Driver
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Mitchell Litrofsky
as Sandy Lehman
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Jane MacIver
as Secretary
- Tom Mason
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Elizabeth Owens
as Loop Group
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Dan Resin
as Loop Group
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Michael Rooker
as Karchy Laszlo
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Ned Schmidtke
as Dean Talbot
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Michael Shillo
as Geza Vamos
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Felix Shuman
as James Nathanson
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Mari Töröcsik
as Magda Zoldan
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Kevin White
as Clerk
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Ellis Williams
as Loop Group
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Margo Winkler
as Irma Kiss
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Marta Sebestyen
as Singer
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Andy Avalos
as Weatherman
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Mimi Bensinger
as Loop Group
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Leonard E. Boswell
as Courtroom Guard
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Nicholas Christianson
as Boy with Mikey
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Richard D'Angelo
as Violent Protester
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Gyorgy Emod
as Andras Nagy
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Agnes Gallwitz
as Translator
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Zoltan Gera
as Man in Budapest
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Tracy Grant
as Servant
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Donnez Harris
as Security Guard
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Erica MD Heit
as Doctor
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Pauline Kaner
as Reporter
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Tibor Kenderesi
as Pal Horvath
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Magda Szekely Marburg
as Judit Hollo
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Douglas Marcinek
as Courtroom Guard
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Christiana Nicola
as Maria
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George Pusep
as Vladimir Kostav
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Owen Rice
as Courtroom Reporter
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Magda Sass
as Translator
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Tom Skilling
as Weatherman
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Mark Steggerda
as Courtroom Guard
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Tom Stienke
as Sports Announcer
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Megan Warner
as Secretary
- Mary Goldberg
- George Carson
- Anne Gartlan
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Joe Guzaldo
as Joe Dinofrio
- Pam Dixon Mickelson
