True Believer

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True Believer

R

1989

1h 43m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Jaded lawyer Eddie Dodd (James Woods), a well-regarded activist in the 1960s whose moment has long passed, now smokes marijuana and defends drug dealers who pay in cash. Recent law graduate Roger Baron (Robert Downey Jr.) becomes Dodd's apprentice, hoping to learn from him. When an agitated mother walks in insisting her son is innocent of the murder he was jailed for eight years ago, idealistic Roger prods Eddie to take the case, and the pair uncovers a huge conspiracy that endangers them both.

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Critics Consensus

A compelling mystery, social themes, and powerful performances from a pair of well-matched leads make True Believer a legal thriller that definitely passes the bar.

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Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

04/16/2009

Woods' angry energy is clarifying as well as terrifying, and when he unleashes it (usually without warning), the effect is to focus our attention where it belongs, not on a suspense story but on the mysteries of human behavior.

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Time Out

01/26/2006

A riveting legal drama.

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Hal Hinson

Washington Post

01/01/2000

Ruben relies too heavily on Woods' whirring turbines to power his scenes.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

02/23/2023

3/4

...a fairly standard legal procedural that’s elevated by its raft of agreeable, engaging attributes...

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

07/16/2008

4/5

Film4

02/27/2008

Woods, as ever, is wired for a fight -- in or outside the courtroom. It's all Downey Jr can do to hold him back.

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Dave H

@GridGlory Mar 2

There was a brief span, where James Woods was an excellent actor. Hard to remember that post-brain rot

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Kyle M

@RT77296778 Aug 22

Electrifying performances from James Woods and Robert Downey Jr. compels this as one of the most intellectually engrossing courtroom dramas that functionally deters predictability with shrouded uncertainty thickening and a brisky climax finding a morale standpoint. (B+)

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Claire M

@RT01732244 Jul 26

I'm so happy the critics rated this movie so highly. I saw it in the theater when it first came out and I own the DVD. I have thought about different characters and dialogue from it throughout my life. True Believer is a complex and entertaining movie with an amazing cast including a very young and already scene stealing Robert Downey Jr. The movie came out in 1989. I think many of today's moviegoers want more action than drama and plot.

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Jelisije J

@jjosifovic 03/21/2025

A story that you seen a dozen times before, but James Woods brings out his charismatic charm that turns a mediocre movie to a good one.

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Online A

@LukeP 11/17/2024

Very poorly written. Characters' motives are consistently head scratching. Lawyers take a case they have no reason to. They fight hard for innocence yet have no basis for that belief. Injustice is simply assumed until they can find evidence to support it. It's actually really bad.

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Maggie M

@RT66652552 09/01/2024

I really wanted to like this movie. It offered all the ingredients for a perfect evening watch: good actors, great 80s music and a gripping legal drama. Unfortunately, the dialogue felt forced, the drama manufactured and the outbursts, in many scenes, fake and overdramatic.

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Joseph Ruben

Director

James Woods

Eddie Dodd

Robert Downey Jr.

Roger Baron

Yuji Okumoto

Shu Kai Kim

Margaret Colin

Kitty Greer

Kurtwood Smith

Robert Reynard

Against All Odds

64%

46%

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Physical Evidence

22%

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84%

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71%

53%

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Criminal Law

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Synopsis

Jaded lawyer Eddie Dodd (James Woods), a well-regarded activist in the 1960s whose moment has long passed, now smokes marijuana and defends drug dealers who pay in cash. Recent law graduate Roger Baron (Robert Downey Jr.) becomes Dodd's apprentice, hoping to learn from him. When an agitated mother walks in insisting her son is innocent of the murder he was jailed for eight years ago, idealistic Roger prods Eddie to take the case, and the pair uncovers a huge conspiracy that endangers them both.

Director: Joseph Ruben
Producer: Walter F. Parkes, Lawrence Lasker
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 17, 1989, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.7M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround

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