The Accused Movie Review

If Jodie Foster wasn't the star of The Accused, chances are few would have seen it and no one would remember it today. But Foster's portrayal of Sarah Tobias is gritty, down-and-dirty -- a younger Silkwood of sorts. She won the Oscar, and launched her career as a serious actress.

But the rest of the film is forgettable, despite its heavy-at-the-time thematics. The plot revolves around Sarah's gang rape in a roadside bar and the lawsuit that results -- considerably complicated because Sarah was drunk, stoned, flirting, dressed provocatively, and, to be honest, is a bit of a slut.

Her defender, played by Kelly McGillis, in her last role of any noteworthiness, is a bit of limp fish. She cuts a deal, only to dig deeper into the case after a crisis of conscience and discover that she can even prosecute the witnesses for "soliciting the rape." Courtroom drama ensues.

The film brought rape into the public eye back in 1988, but that's been considerably overshadowed by countless docudramas, TV movies, hour-long "very special episodes," and even other theatrical movies that have treated the subject with a harder edge. But Foster's performance is engaging enough to make the movie memorable -- and the picture does have enough of a social commentary to make it worthwhile (at the very least as a look back into the '80s).