It's hard to believe that the same Costa-Gavras who made "Z" and "Missing" made this thick-eared melodrama about a war crimes trial. Costa-Gavras' heart may have been in the right place but his ultra-liberal agenda clearly got the better of him and everything is written in capital letters, every T crossed and every I dotted with no room for manoeuvre.
Armin Mueller-Stahl is the man accused of being a former member of an SS death squad now being defended by his daughter, no less (Jessica Lange doing her best to underplay). A totally miscast Frederic Forrest is the prosecutor and real-life judge James Zagel, acting under the name of J. S. Block, is the presiding judge.
Perhaps in Europe, 20 years earlier, Costa-Gavras might have made something out of this material but this is a Hollywood version of the Holocaust and Hollywood has never been known for its subtlety so what should have been shocking or at least moving is now merely offensive while the father/daughter scenario completely backfires. As always Mueller-Stahl is very good but even his performance is not enough to save this deeply mediocre film.
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