Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent Is a Riveting Reimagining of a Classic Legal Thriller
Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
Watching Apple TV+’s newest dramatic series, Presumed Innocent, will make you feel just like its lead character. At first, what you’re viewing makes sense and seems simple enough. Prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal) is investigating the murder of someone he’s intimately familiar with. Then, slowly, much like Rusty, after each episode your obsession will become more and more obvious.
Based on the 1987 best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent tells the story of Chicago’s chief deputy prosecutor who’s accused of murder. If the title sounds familiar, the book was turned into a 1990 film starring Harrison Ford.
When I started watching screeners for the eight-episode series, I was a bit apprehensive. I’m a fan of the film which mostly stays loyal to the novel. How could the story possibly be improved? The answer is showrunner David E. Kelly (Big Little Lies, The Practice, and countless other hit shows), who has his fingerprints all over the limited series, turning it into a brilliant reimagining of an American classic. And it all starts with a murder.
Presumed Innocent wastes no time. Within the first five minutes of the pilot, viewers learn of the murder of Carolyn Polhmeus (Renate Reinsve), an attorney in the prosecutor’s office. Rusty is assigned to the case because he’s the right-hand man of District Attorney Raymond Horgan (Bill Camp). The murder rocks the DA’s office, pitting Rusty and Horgan against Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard) and Nico Della Guardia (O-T Fagbenle), two attorneys who wanted to be assigned to the high profile case to boost their careers.
The series begins as a typical murder mystery, but viewers quickly learn that Rusty should have recused himself. He not only had an affair with Carolyn, but fell in love with her. Things get worse when Tommy, who has a contentious relationship with everyone in the office except for Nico, learns of the affair and makes Rusty the prime murder suspect. The intensity gradually ramps up from there.
Each episode of Presumed Innocent acts as an individual tug on the noose of suspicion around Rusty’s neck. Increasingly desperate, we see him make one misguided mistake after another. Rusty downplays his relationship with Carolyn to his wife and Raymond, now his defense attorney, and every time he makes a bad decision, it comes back to haunt him. Rusty has trouble controlling his temper, grabbing one man by the collar and beating up another. He frequently lets Tommy, his long standing rival, out maneuver him despite being the superior lawyer. This is a man under so much pressure he’s become a walking contradiction.
Rusty is a devoted family man, but commits the ultimate betrayal. He’s a smart lawyer, but makes errors that benefit the prosecution. Played brilliantly and believably by Gyllenhaal, he maintains his innocence but commits boneheaded mistakes that make him look terrible. (My review notes are filled with “He looks guilty” and “Rusty’s losing it.”) This is one of many ways the limited series diverges from the source material.
In the film and the novel, Rusty is more stoic, and his affair with Carolyn is never proven by the prosecution. Horgan works against Rusty, not with him. Tommy and Nico are mostly inept, losing a key piece of evidence. And Rusty’s defense attorney Sandy Stern, played by Raul Julia in the film, is an important player; Sandy’s only mentioned in passing in the series.