Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) is a brilliant defense lawyer with a loving husband Tom (Jim Caviezel). They have the perfect life but then Tom is arrested accused of being Sgt. Ron Chapman who massacred villagers in 1988 El Salvadore. He is defended by inexperienced military lawyer Lieutenant Embry (Adam Scott). She is over her head in military court and gets help from Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman). Brig. Gen. Bill Marks (Bruce Davison) was the commanding officer at the time, and Tom/Ron accuses him of a frame job. And there is Claire's flaky sister Jackie (Amanda Peet) and the crazed Maj. James Hernandez (Juan Carlos Hernández). Michael Shannon has a minor role as witness Troy Abbott.

It has the bones of a functional courtroom action thriller. It's nothing special. Director Carl Franklin tries but it's not his best work. Judd and Freeman are both great actors trying to do good work. It may work a lot better if there is more doubt thrown into the movie earlier about Tom/Ron's guilt. That takes away much of the drama. This makes the twist way too jarring. Then there are the attempts at their lives. For skilled killers, they don't really follow through. It piles on a little too much. It's a close call. I have to say it fails by a hair.

Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) is a high priced defense attorney who is near becoming a partner. Her husband (Jim Caviezel) is accused of mass military killing in El Salvador while a Marine several years ago. Claire enlists the help of Charles Grimes (Morgan Freeman) a former military lawyer who likes the bottle.

It is an interesting film, even though it is a bit dated. The film is advertised as having a twist, which meant I knew the ending, just not how we get there. Good performances.

Guide: No swearing or nudity. Implied sex. Amanda Peet eye candy.

This was an involving story of a military man accused of murdering civilians 15 years earlier and then going A.W.O.L. The whole story revolves around one question: did he do it or is he innocent?

That question keeps the viewer guessing for much of the film and provides some very good suspense. It's another film, however, in which there is a strong anti-U.S. military flavor, so typical in films since the 1960s.

Also, once you know the ending, I doubt if this would be a movie you would watch more than once. However, it's definitely worth a look and will entertain you for about two hours. Ashley Judd, Jim Caviezel and Morgan Freeman are three attractive lead actors, all interesting to watch, as usual.