True Believer (1989)

95% of critics liked it
(22 reviews)
54% of users liked it
(2,261 ratings)

The only True Believer at the beginning of this drama is idealistic young attorney Robert Downey Jr., who apprentices under the guidance of celebrated civil-rights activist James Woods. Alas, in the years since the sixties, Woods has become a disillusioned, dope-smoking ambulance chaser. Goaded by… More The only True Believer at the beginning of this drama is idealistic young attorney Robert Downey Jr., who apprentices under the guidance of celebrated civil-rights activist James Woods. Alas, in the years since the sixties, Woods has become a disillusioned, dope-smoking ambulance chaser. Goaded by Downey, Woods takes up one last "lost cause:" that of Korean-American prison inmate Yuji Okomoto, who is about to be tried for the self-defense slaying of another prisoner. As Woods investigates, he unearths several iniquities in the trial that sent Okomoto to prison. Despite the fact that the one witness who might clear Okomoto is an unhinged conspiracy theorist, Woods endeavors to re-open Okomoto's case--which plays right into the hands of sharkish, politically ambitious DA Kurtwood Smith. Chock full of plot twists and last-minute shockers, True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off TV series, Eddie Dodd. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: Joseph Ruben
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1989 Wide
On DVD: Apr 3, 2001
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
Woods' angry energy is clarifying as well as terrifying, and when he unleashes it (usually without warning), the effect is to focus our attention where it belongs, not on a suspense story but on the mysteries of human behavior.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
When I see Woods on the screen in the first shot of a movie I sort of smile to myself because I know that something strange and offbeat and maybe even inspired is about to happen.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Ruben relies too heavily on Woods' whirring turbines to power his scenes.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
What counts in Believer is not what happens but how. This is as good a how as any.
, Film4
Woods, as ever, is wired for a fight -- in or outside the courtroom. It's all Downey Jr can do to hold him back.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Woods clearly relishes his chance to display a wide range of emotions within his patented maverick persona, and Downey also acquits himself well in a much less challenging role.
, Time Out
A riveting legal drama.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Really clicks as a modern day morality play.
Blake Davis, KFOR Channel 4 News
One of the best courtroom dramas ever made, and a movie that almost nobody knows about. A terrific picture.

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

A defense attorney with a ludicrous pony tail defends a man accused of murder. I'm surprised by the critics' positive reviews of this thoroughly unexceptional film. Most of the reviews focus on Woods's performance, but whereas his other characters' extravagant… More
A defense attorney with a ludicrous pony tail defends a man accused of murder. I'm surprised by the critics' positive reviews of this thoroughly unexceptional film. Most of the reviews focus on Woods's performance, but whereas his other characters' extravagant posturing seemed to fit the situation and persona, here, he simply seems unreasonable and unstable. He irrationally yells at his cohorts, spouting treatises about justice for society's less fortunate, and everything he says is right and justified, but the manner with which he says it reminds me of those pundits on television "news" who do nothing but scream at each other. His character is supposed to be a remnant from the 60s, as indicated by the pony tail wig and the pot, but there's no real exploration of his past and how that past shaped his present. And amid all the histrionics is Robert Downey Jr. who has never been more unnoticable. As a film, this is a wholly predictable procedural with fewer surprises than the worst episode of <i>Law and Order</i>. The clues are all obviously placed, and the final courtroom scene is so theatrical that it defies all believability. Overall, after I read positive reviews of a film I didn't like, I normally reconsider my star rating, but <i>True Believer</i> was too poorly constructed and too pedestrian as a whole.
Conner R

I don't think anyone could prance around in an outrageous gray ponytail besides James Woods. He plays a very unique type of hippie lawyer that I don't think i've ever seen before. Robert Downey Jr. also gives a classic performance as a bookish new lawyer trying to do… More
I don't think anyone could prance around in an outrageous gray ponytail besides James Woods. He plays a very unique type of hippie lawyer that I don't think i've ever seen before. Robert Downey Jr. also gives a classic performance as a bookish new lawyer trying to do the right thing. The story is interesting in that it examines two very important topics at the time, gang violence and racism. While those are two topics that get thrown around all the time, this combines them in a very unique way.
meril l

Fun albeit forgettable. I got it for Robert, but ended up watching it for James Woods. It's a feel-good lawyer movie that doesn't go above your head but isn't completely stupid either. A few weak moments of dialogue, but otherwise not a weak script.

Cast

            James Woods as Eddie Dodd

            Robert Downey Jr. as Roger Baron

            Yuji Okumoto as Shu Kai Kim

            Margaret Colin as Kitty Greer

            Kurtwood Smith as Robert Reynard

            Tom Bower as Cecil Skell

            Charles Hallahan as Vincent Dennehy

            Sully Diaz as Maraquilla Esparza

            Misan Kim as Mrs. Kim

            John Snyder as Chucky Loeder

            Luis Guzman as Ortega

            Graham Beckel as Sklaroff

            Tony Haney as Montell

            Joel Polis as Dean Rabin

            Will Marchetti as Judge Quealy

            Tony Abatemarco as Glen Fulton

            Gerry Bamman as Brian Nevins

            Cab Covay as Teardrop

            Charles Dean as Detective

            Richard Fancy as Ballistics Expert

            Miguel Fernandes as Art Esparza

            Kurt Fuller as George Ballistics

            Taylor Gilbert as Reynard's Receptionist

            Ken Grantham as Cecil's Judge

            George Jenesky as Slim Jim

            George Maguire (II) as Maitre d'

            Maureen McVerry as Billy

            Deborah Offner as Laura Gayley

            Abigail Van Alyn as Connie Dennehy

            Thomas Wagner as Tommy

            Mike Stone as Client

            Cully Fredricksen as Scarecrow

            Ginger Chung as Translator

            David Espinoza as Corrections Officer

            Peter Fitzsimmons as Court Clerk

            Thelton E. Henderson as Judge Baum

            Peter Anthony Jacobs as Reporter

            Gustave Johnson as Detective

            Stu Klitsher as Magnate

            Sean O'Brien Teague as Clyde Gruner

            Ralph Peduto as Court Officer

            Margot Rose as Ms. Jessum

            Jan Schultz as Lindeman

            Jarrett Sullivan as Boy

            Karen Rea
            
            David Booth as Minister

            George Maguire (I)
            
See full cast