Guilty as Sin is a 1993 film directed by Sidney Lumet. It stars Don Johnson and Rebecca De Mornay, and was produced by Hollywood Pictures.
Synopsis
Jennifer Haines (Rebecca DeMornay) is an up-and-coming Chicago attorney. She wins a big case, celebrates with the man in her life, Phil (Stephen Lang), and returns to work to a hero's reception.
Into her life walks David Greenhill (Don Johnson), who was seated in the gallery during her previous trial. Greenhill is a debonair and arrogant ladies' man who stands accused of murdering his wealthy wife, Rita (Brigit Wilson). He wants Haines to represent him, but she declines.
Something about him intrigues her, though, so the equally arrogant Haines has second thoughts. She tells her law firm's superiors that this promises to be a high-profile trial and she wants it because: "I am that good."
Greenhill maintains his innocence but shows signs of irrational behavior that make Haines leery of him. She assigns her longtime investigator Moe (Jack Warden) to do some digging and he begins to unearth the defendant's shady past. Greenhill in the meantime starts showing up unexpectedly in Haines's social life, stalking her and dropping hints that something is going on between them.
Phil dislikes the guy intensely and demands Haines drop him as a client. She doesn't care for Greenhill either but resents being told what to do. She refuses to quit his case until her law partners notify her that the fee Greenhill promised remains unpaid. An unsympathetic judge (Dana Ivey) tells Haines it's her own fault and refuses to let her abandon her client.
Learning from Moe that Greenhill has a history of dating older women who usually end up dead a horrified Haines wants to turn him in but bound to attorney-client privilege. She instead tries to sabotage her own case by having evidence planted at Greenhill's apartment hoping that it will lead to his conviction. He knows she must be behind it and takes his revenge by viciously assaulting Phil, who ends up hospitalized. Greenhill proceeds to murder Moe, knocking him cold and setting fire to his office.
Greenhill's case ends in a mistrial, after the jury fails to reach a unanimous verdict. Greenhill, seemingly pleased, displays regret that he never had a chance to take the stand. He and Haines play a mock cat and mouse questioning in the now empty coutroom in which Greenhill reveals to her that he had been scouting her far in advance of the murder case. He confesses in private that he did indeed kill his wife and provides vivid details. He also tells Haines, who informs him that she will not defend him in a retrial, that he knows that she planted the evidence on him and that he could use this to blackmail her into staying on his case, however, he admits that he has come to tire of her and that he has no need for her anymore. Haines fears the psychopathic Greenhill will now will come after her. He does so at her apartment building, where, during a struggle between them, Greenhill goes over a railing and plunges to his death.
Cast
External links
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Films directed by Sidney Lumet |
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