Details

Release year: 1989

Storyline

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.

Top credits

Directors

Costa-Gavras

Writers

Joe Eszterhas

Cast

Jessica Lange — Ann Talbot
Armin Mueller-Stahl — Mike Laszlo
Frederic Forrest — Jack Burke
Donald Moffat — Harry Talbot

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Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

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Did you know

• Joe Eszterhas wrote the screenplay with Jane Fonda in mind to play the female lead. Eszterhas and producer Irwin Winkler wanted to cast Fonda, but Costa-Gavras thought that she was too old for the part, and cast Jessica Lange instead. Fonda was paid $1.25 million in compensation for losing the part.

• After the movie was released, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' own father, Istvan Eszterhas, was accused of war crimes in Hungary for printing anti-Semitic editorials, and even organizing a book burning. When Istvan admitted the charges were accurate, Joe responded by publicly condemning his father, and disowning him as a parent, later writing that he never reconciled with Istvan, and refused to let him see his grandchildren right up to the point where Istvan died of natural causes.

• Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau wanted to play the father (Michael Laszlo), and were in contact with director Costa-Gavras. Costa-Gavras also considered Marlon Brando for the part. Instead, he picked Armin Mueller-Stahl, who a couple of years earlier had said he would love to work with him after seeing his movie, Missing (1982), at the theater.