The Accused

THE ACCUSED (18)
D: Jonathan Kaplan
Paramount (Stanley R. Jaffe & Sherry Lansing)
USA 🇺🇸 1988
110 mins
 
Drama
 
W: Tom Topor
DP: Ralf Bode
Ed: Jerry Greenberg & O. Nicholas Brown
Mus: Brad Fiedel
 
Jodie Foster (Sarah Tobias), Kelly McGillis (Kathryn Murphy), Bernie Coulson (Kenneth Joyce), Ann Hearn (Sally Frazer), Steve Antin (Bob Joiner), Tom O'Brien (Larry)

The Accused is a courtroom drama about a young woman who is gang raped at a seedy bar, where her assailants maintain that she 'asked for it' for dressing and behaving provocatively upon their arrests.  Her case is taken on by a female DA who presses for charges not only against the accused men who participated in the attack, but also for those who stood by and watched complicity, including the bar owners.
It cannot be denied that this is a powerful film, and the rape-scene itself is a particularly difficult watch, but unfortunately it really doesn't answer any of the questions that it raises, it only raises awareness for them - however important and noble that may be. 
Jodie Foster's excellent performance lifts the movie above well above the standard of a TV movie-of-the-week and she rightly won an Oscar for Best Actress for her work. 
It's quite regretful to say that, over 30 years later, some things still haven't changed.
7/10

Jodie Foster in The Accused
Jodie Foster in The Accused
Did You Know:
The movie is based on a real-life gang rape that occurred on March 6, 1983, at Big Dan's Bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Award Wins & Nominations:


MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: 1 (Best Actress in a Leading Role)

Nominations: none


OSCARS:

Wins: 1 (Best Actress in a Leading Role)

Nominations: none


BAFTAS

Wins: none

Nominations: 1 (Best Actress in a Leading Role)


OTHER WINS:

Golden Globe (Best Actress - Drama); David Awards (Best Foreign Actress); Kansas City Film Critics (Best Actress); National Board of Review (Top 10 Films of the Year, Best Actress)