Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501230043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The result is a film that's driven by three convincing performances - two in lead roles, one in support - and a well-realized sense of time and place, pre-war Alcatraz and San Francisco. On the negative side, the characters are reduced to models of goodness or evil, and director Marc Rocco never misses a chance to show off.
Said to be "inspired by a true story" (which must leave even more room for fiction than ``based on a true story''), the film revolves around one prisoner's solitary confinement. In 1938, Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) is captured after a brief escape attempt. Associate Warden Glenn (Gary Oldman) makes an example of him, and locks Henri in a dungeon for three years under conditions that can only be described as medieval. He's kept naked in virtual darkness with no human contact beyond occasional beatings.
When he emerges, he immediately kills a fellow inmate.
Rookie public defender James Stamphill (Christian Slater) is given the case and told to get it settled as quickly and quietly as possible. At first, Henri won't talk to him; won't respond in any way. But James persists, and gradually Henri warms to human contact. When he learns what Henri has been through, James decides to put the institution on trial, arguing that Henri had been driven to his actions.
The first part of the film, set mostly in the prison, is strong stuff. Henri's treatment is presented graphically, and Bacon makes his pain, humiliation, fear and madness seem all too real. Though his role is much smaller, Gary Oldman is just as effective as the evil warden.
Later, when the focus shifts to Stamphill's investigation, the story becomes more complicated, and Dan Gordon's script runs into a few weak moments that are less than completely believable. Parts of the conclusion have a forced feeling, too, but those flaws mean little next to director Rocco's inexcusable excesses.
Perhaps he didn't trust his material, or perhaps he had just taken a film school refresher course - Camerawork 101: How to Irritate the Audience. In such key scenes as James' and Henri's first meeting, Rocco tries to hunt them down with a moving camera. He swoops around them, going in and out of prison cells and rooms, then soars upward to show us the tops of their heads.
He does the same thing in one of the courtroom scenes. There, it becomes so intrusive you almost expect the judge (R. Lee Ermey) to say, "Bailiff, remove that man with the camera."
At the same time, Rocco got Kevin Bacon's finest performance. He's so submerged into the role that he often doesn't even look like himself. Christian Slater is working with more conventional material, but he manages to hold his own in their scenes together.
Their contributions are the best part of "Murder in the First," and if the other key aspects of the film had been their equal, it would be nominated for multiple Oscars. But a preachy tone and director Rocco's exuberance make that unlikely.
Murder in the First
** 1/2
A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Tanglewood Mall. 120 min. Rated R for violence, subject matter, strong language, sexual content.
by CNB