The Accused

Synopsis: Sarah Tobias goes to her local bar and is gang-raped by three men. The district attorney on the case is Katheryn Murphy who wants to prove that although Sarah had taken drugs that night and was acting provocatively while in the bar, this is no reason for her to be so brutally attacked and the men responsible should be brought to justice.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Jonathan Kaplan
Production: Paramount Pictures
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Metacritic:
65
Rotten Tomatoes:
95%
R
Year:
1988
111 min
8,792 Views


- Birchfield County Emergency.

- I'd like to report a girl's in trouble.

- May I have your name?

- Listen, a girl's in trouble.

- It's The Mill, the bar on Mill Road.

- Sir, I must...

Would you listen to me, goddamn it?

Stop.

It's a rape. There's three or four guys.

I don't know. There's a whole crowd.

Why don't you send somebody?

Raise your chin.

What kind of contraceptive

do you normally use?

- IUD.

- When was your last period?

Show me your hands, please.

Ten, twelve days. Bad cramps.

- What's your usual cycle?

- Turn around. Raise your gown, please.

- Aren't you gonna examine me?

- I need some more history first.

Your leg, please.

Before the incident,

when was your last intercourse?

- Turn around, lower your gown, please.

- A while.

- Can you be more specific?

- Please lower your gown.

- Two weeks.

- Are you sure?

Yeah.

Sarah, have you ever had

a venereal disease?

No.

Hi, Sarah.

I'm Carol Hunnicutt

from the rape centre.

Is there anyone you'd like me to call?

Well, I'm here to help, so if there's

anything I can do, let me know. OK?

Try to relax.

You're tensing. Easy.

Breathe deeply for me.

Easy.

Easy. One more. Hold on.

- I'm gonna comb for hair, Sarah.

- Not yours. Theirs.

Now, let's get you down.

I wanna scrape under your nails

in case you scratched one of them.

Sarah, this is Kathryn Murphy.

She'll be the deputy district attorney

for your case.

Hi, Sarah.

You can take a shower now,

and a douche.

The ladies' room is down the hall

and on your left.

I brought you something to wear.

I hope you don't mind grey.

- You got any mouthwash?

- Sure.

A lot of alcohol.

- Legally drunk.

- And grass, too. What else?

What difference does that make?

She was raped by three men.

I'm not a rape counsellor. I'm a

prosecutor. I have to make a rape case.

- Then go prosecute.

- I'll wait in the supervisor's office.

- Miss Murphy?

- 101.

...and I heard somebody screamin',

and it was me.

- Sarah, this is Detective Duncan.

- Dunc. How are you doin'?

- Would you recognise any of the men?

- Yeah.

The Mill is still open. We'd like to take

you, see if you can make a positive ID.

We'd be right there with you.

If you want to get them,

I need your help.

Yeah.

Do you recognise

any of your attackers?

Yeah.

- Let's go.

- The guy in the yellow T-shirt.

Check the back room.

The one in the vest.

Are there any others?

No.

John, could you take her out to my car,

please? I'll be there in a minute.

Excuse me, sir.

I'm Kathryn Murphy, deputy

district attorney in Birchfield County.

We have a report of a felony

committed on these premises.

I have a search warrant

signed by Judge Cutler.

This is Detective Duncan,

in charge of the investigation.

Wanna turn down the television set

so we can talk in peace?

Hey, Polito. How are you doin'?

Didn't think I was gonna see you

for a couple of years.

The college one wasn't there.

Kurt, Danny and the college one.

My girlfriend Sally was there.

Bob's the college one. Bob.

Did you go to college?

Yeah. Lawyer. Of course you...

Stupid.

Turn right here.

Listen.

Maybe you should just

leave me off here,

cos he's probably asleep.

He likes to get stoned

and listen to music and fall asleep.

Are you OK?

Yeah.

My eyes hurt.

Are you married?

No. Are you?

No.

My ma was married for ten years,

but he left when I was born.

Are you into astrology at all?

No, I'm not.

That's too bad.

I could do your chart for you.

- When were you born?

- 1959.

I sure hope I can wake him up.

You want me to come in with you?

Can I ask you a question?

Does my face look really bad?

No.

He likes to touch my face.

I wish I knew what to say.

What?

I said "I wish I knew what to say."

You wanna take a drive?

Get some air. Cool out.

No.

OK.

I'll be back in a while.

- Hello?

- Hi. It's me.

Sarah?

It's awful late. Is somethin' wrong?

No. Nothing's wrong. No special

reason. I just figured I'd say hello.

You lost your job.

No.

How's Amos?

- Gone.

- Already?

Thanks a lot, Sarah.

I wasn't makin' fun of you, Ma.

Are you callin' for some money?

No, I don't need any money.

I was just thinkin'...

I was thinkin' maybe I'd drive out.

Maybe I'd come out for a week or so.

- You're in trouble?

- No. I'm not in any trouble, Ma.

- I just figured...

- I'm goin' away.

- Where?

- Florida.

Well, that sounds like fun.

Listen, Ma. You have a good time, OK?

How's Sadie doin'?

She's fine.

I just got her a new flea collar.

Will I talk to you soon?

Yeah. Real soon.

- It's kinda expensive to call, so...

- OK.

I've gotta get up in two hours.

Yeah. All right.

- You go back to sleep, Ma.

- You take care.

- Bye.

- Bye.

It's the one in the green sweater.

Back up, boys.

County Sheriff. Your name Bob?

Put your hands on the car over there.

You're under arrest.

- For what?

- Put your hands on the car.

You have the right to remain silent.

If you give up this right,

anything you say can be used

against you in a court of law.

- You have the right to an attorney.

- Paul, call my dad.

If you cannot afford an attorney,

the court will appoint one.

You have the right

to make one phone call.

Do you understand your rights?

- Yes.

- Fine. Join us, please.

- We will indict for first-degree felony.

- My client has no prior record.

There's a genuine risk of

the defendants fleeing the jurisdiction.

- I'd like him released to his family.

- This is a crime of extreme violence.

The victim has concern for her safety...

Miss.

- I ordered this well done. It's raw.

- Sorry. I'll have it for you in a minute.

- And I asked for some ketchup.

- Right. I'm goin' a little senile today.

...accused of raping a woman at a bar

were released on 10,000 dollars bail.

Lawyers for the accused men

expressed confidence

that the facts of the case will reveal

that the woman was not actually raped.

Our defence is simple:

There was no rape.

The so-called victim

consented enthusiastically to the acts.

She put on a show, pure and simple.

The debate between the five candidates

after the council seat of Daniel Stein

now appears to be on again.

Representatives for the candidates met

for four hours behind closed doors...

Bye.

- Who is it?

- Kathryn Murphy.

- Why'd you let 'em out on bail?

- I didn't. It's standard procedure.

Until the jury finds you guilty,

you're free if you can post bail.

The guy on the TV

made it sound like I did a live sex show.

That's not the last time

that's gonna happen.

May I come in?

Yeah. Come on in.

Sadie, shut up.

The bartender at The Dugout

said you were sick.

You went lookin' for me?

Well, I had to go to the doctor

and nobody at work knows.

Come on, Sadie.

You want a seat?

Would you like something to drink?

I could really use a drink.

Thank you, no.

Just to smooth out the edges a little bit.

You know?

Listen, what time were you born?

I already told you

I didn't believe in astrology.

So what? I do.

- What time?

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Tom Topor

Tom Topor (born 1938) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. Topor was born in Vienna, Austria, and was brought to London in 1939, where he remained until he came to New York City in 1949. He earned his bachelor's degree at Brooklyn College in 1961. Topor is the author of the 1979 play Nuts and the screenplay for the 1987 film, which became a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film, The Accused, which starred Jodie Foster. Topor won the Writers Guild of America Award for his screenplay for the 1990 made-for-television film, Judgment, which he also directed. In 1996 he won the Dilys Award for his novel, The Codicil. Topor's works tend to involve courtroom drama, psychological drama, docudrama, melodrama, social problems, crime, and/or sexual abuse issues. Prior to his career as an author, Topor was a reporter for the New York Post, covering stories in police stations, courtrooms, hospitals, and psychiatric wards. He also did some reporting for the New York Daily News and the New York Times. Topor's career as a playwright began in 1969 with a series of one-act plays staged Off-Off-Broadway. This culminated in a run of his play Nuts on Broadway from April 28, 1980 into August of that year. Anne Twomey, in the lead role, received a Tony Award nomination for her performance. The play was published in 1981, and was made into a film of the same name starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss in 1987, with Topor himself adapting it into a screenplay. Topor's other plays include Answers, Romance: Here to Stay, But Not For Me, Coda (L'Orchestre des ombres in French), Up the Hill, and The Playpen. His other novels include Tightrope Minor and Bloodstar. His additional screenplays and teleplays include Word of Honor (co-writer) and Perfect Murder, Perfect Town (from the book by Lawrence Schiller). more…

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