Harrison Ford’s footsteps are hard to fill, but Jake Gyllenhaal clearly isn’t afraid to give it a go: he’s the star and executive producer of Apple TV Plus’ upcoming series Presumed Innocent, a remake of the Ford-starring 1990 courtroom drama based on the Scott Turow bestseller of the same name.
This time around it’s an eight-part series rather than a two-hour movie, and the star-studded cast includes Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, O-T Fagbenle, Chase Infiniti, Nana Mensah, Renate Reinsve, Peter Sarsgaard, Kingston Rumi Southwick and Elizabeth Marvel.
The book, movie and show all tell the same story. In Chicago, chief deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Gyllenhaal) is accused of a horrific murder – an accusation that could destroy his family, his career and his life. As Sabich battles to clear his name, the series explores themes of sex, politics, power and obsession.
Is Presumed Innocent presumed to be good?
I think so. The book was great, the movie was pretty good and the trailer suggests that the show captures the claustrophobic, paranoid vibe very well – and of course Gyllenhaal is a fine actor, as are his fellow cast members. The show is being made by Bad Robot alongside David E Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Kelley created or produced tons of big-name shows including Chicago Hope, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, Big Little Lies and a pilot of The Lincoln Lawyer among many more, so clearly we’re in safe hands here even if Rusty Sabich isn’t.
What made the film so good, and what Apple seems to be focusing on here, was the courtroom scenes. As The Philadelphia Enquirer put it, “at least on the surface, Presumed Innocent unfolds in the grand tradition of great courtroom drama. But nothing in Presumed Innocent is what it seems”.
The courtroom scenes in the film are very tense, and there are plenty of twists, shock reveals and other key moments in Scott Turow’s story to make you jump up from the couch; the LA Times called the movie “intelligent, complex and enthralling”.
Hopefully expanding the story to eight episodes won’t overstretch things: the pre-court scenes in the book and film were a bit of a slow burn, but there’s slow and then there’s sloooooooooooow. Fingers crossed this isn’t the latter. For now, Presumed Innocent is presumed awesome.
Presumed Innocent will be streaming on Apple TV Plus from June 12.
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