The Conspirator
Rating: 6/10
Cast:
James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom
Wilkinson, Justin Long, Kevin Kline
Director: Robert Redford
Back to the time of Lincoln's assassination for this very familiar
tale of a lawyer torn between duty and a client who may be innocent
but facing charges which will see her hanged.
McAvoy stars as Frederick Aiken, a returned Union war hero who's
now working as legal counsel as they all cope with the aftermath of
events following the assassination of US President Lincoln at Ford
Theatre.
Seven men and one woman, Mary Surratt (Wright) are arrested for the
murder and conspiracy and Aiken is given the job of defending
Surratt of the charges.
But despite initial reticence to defend her, believing it's
abhorrent to all he holds dear, Aiken soon begins to realise that
she is innocent and fights tooth and nail to ensure she
lives.
However, it appears the odds are against them.
An historical drama this may be but in many ways, it's a very
traditional run of the mill legal drama; the tenets of every John
Grisham style drama are there; the client who's being framed, the
young lawyer who doesn't want the case but realises it's his chance
to shine - they're all on hand.
And yet thanks to a masterful cast; particularly McAvoy and
Wright's Surratt who's demure outlook makes you empathise with her
from the get go; this film is watchable - even if it does fall into
the worthy but dull category at times.
In many ways, it feels like you're watching a play with a cast
who're acting their socks off but following a legal drama
adaptation. Redford's direction doesn't bring a lot of life to the
story (he even uses a series of montages of paper headlines at one
stage) but it's a well told conspiracy story which doesn't quite
reach the heights it aspires to.
