By Michael McCarty
A review and thought about the movie “Absence of Malice”
When I was in college, my girlfriend Cheryl back then and I went to the movie “Absence of Malice” that had Sally Field and Paul Newman in it. We were always going to movies and a film about newspapers intrigued me, because I was a English/Journalism major in college.
Here is a little about the film:
Paul Newman plays a Miami liquor wholesaler named Michael Gallagher. He is also the son of a famous and now deceased criminal. He finds himself on the front page of the Miami Standard newspaper saying that he is being investigated for the disappearance of a union official. The story was written by Sally Field who plays investigative reporter Megan Carter, who gathered the info from a file left intentionally on the desk of a federal prosecutor who hoped that the leaked story would put the squeeze on Newman’s character.
Of course, Gallagher isn’t a happy camper about the story and demanded to know the source of the story. Carter is closed lipped about her source material. This results in Gallagher’s business being shut down by union officials because he is a suspect in a possible murder of a union officeholder.
Meanwhile Melinda Dillion who plays Teresa Perrone, Gallagher’s lifelong friend, says he couldn’t have killed the union man because he was with her to get an abortion at that time. A devout Catholic, she doesn’t want Sally Field to put that in the newspaper, which of course, she does anyway.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film, is after the newspaper comes out, Melinda Dillion is picking up the copies from her neighbor’s before they would have a chance to read it.
The film is worth checking out, if it is featured on TV, Netflix, Redbox or whatever.
Melinda Dillion was nominated for an Academy Award for her role. Unfortunately she didn’t get it. She was a terrific actress but also shines with other actors (for example, Richard Dreyfus in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Paul Newman in Slapshot and Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story.)
Now, I have been a freelance writer for newspapers, internet sites and books for several decades now, and although Sally Field is “absent of malice” in her reporting, I feel she is a rather sloppy writer. I know, journalists take leaked stories all the time, but she should have done a little more digging on the motivation of her source. And especially when Dillion tells her not to run it because of her religion, she could have stated that Gallagher was with a friend to get an abortion and not named them.
Something else really bothered me about the film. Paul Newman and Sally Field go out on his boat and she is interviewing him with a hidden microphone. I am not sure she could have used the material if she didn’t have permission to record it.
Overall, Paul Newman, Sally Field and Melinda Dillion give great performances. And the opening film sequences about seeing how a newspaper is put together is still interesting today.
Anyway, that is my two-cents on the subject and you can keep the change.
If you like this movie review, check out my book ESOTERIA-LAND, there are film reviews, book reviews, CD reviews and interviews too …
ESOTERIA-LAND by Michael McCarty
Ebook is only .99 cents
Introduction by Horror Actress /Scream Queen Linnea Quigley and Afterword by The Amazing Kreskin …. plus some cool interviews (including Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues and Tommy Chong, from Cheech & Chong), reviews and articles too
Interviews with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, Terry Pratchett, Mojo Nixon, Bobcat Goldthwait, Alan Dean Foster, Famous Monsters editor Forry Ackerman and many more..
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