X
- 1981
- PG
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1981
- PG
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
Summary When a prosecutor leaks a false story that a liquor warehouse owner is involved in the murder of an union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
Written By: Kurt Luedtke
- 1981
- PG
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1981
- PG
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
Absence of Malice
64
7.6
Where to Watch
Summary When a prosecutor leaks a false story that a liquor warehouse owner is involved in the murder of an union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
Written By: Kurt Luedtke
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It is also extremely well acted at every level (one especially wants to single out Bob Balaban as the Government's chief aggressor and Wilford Brimley as its belated voice of conscience), and directed by Sidney Pollack with a sort of crisp but unassuming professionalism that is rarer than it ought to be. Perhaps best of all, the script, by sometime Journalist Kurt Luedtke, who was once part of a Pulitzer-winning investigative team on the Detroit Free Press, has a marvelously entertaining intricacy, briskly and believably building, half-inch by half-inch, Michael's outrage over and Megan's entrapment in the plot to get him.
Sydney Pollack's directing is efficient and the film is moderately entertaining, but it leaves no residue. Except for the intensity of Newman's sly, compact performance...and the marvelously inventive acting of Melinda Dillon.
Absence of Malice is lively, provocative and intelligent, three qualities in short supply this Christmas. It simplifies, but it rarely distorts, and it doggedly picks at sores journalists would just as soon banish by Band-aid. [19 Dec 1981]
Sydney Pollack's film is a solid, absorbing drama that, in profiling the damage that can result from investigative reporting, presents a counterpoint to All The President's Men.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
A wildly overwritten melodrama about the sins of the press. Newman's character is compelling, but Field's reporter is such a lamebrain that we know she would be fired at any major newspaper. [25 Dec 1981]
Overwrought.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
Impeccably liberal in its orientation to 'issues' - the power and responsibilities of the press, the impact of misinformation - this avoids the excesses of Stanley Kramer-like telegraphy, only to come up looking aesthetically wet.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.6
57% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
43% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.6
57% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
43% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations