Skip to content
Presumed Innocent brings Scott Turow’s novel, best known as the 1990 movie starring Harrison Ford, but this time with Jake Gyllenhaal as prosecution lawyer Rusty Sabich, ultimately finding himself on the wrong end of the law, for a crime in which he may or may not be innocent.
Work colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve) has been murdered in suspcious circumstances, but as we know from the original movie – and which is also made clear, here, Rusty had an affair with her, much to his wife, Barbara’s (Ruth Negga – Ad Astra), chagrin.
However, he doesn’t make friends easily at work, and another colleague, Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard – The Batman), initially proposes either he or Rusty should deal with the case as they have the experience for it. Naturally, as a big case, he votes himself for it, as Rusty’s too close, but gets shouted down and it goes to our lead, assigned to him by his boss, District Attorney Raymond Horgan (Bill Camp – Drive-Away Dolls). Unsurprisingly, Barbara is none too happy about this.
I was probably too young for the film when it came out, as I had just turned 18 and still couldn’t get a handle on Harrison Ford being anything other than an action hero, so I could do with seeing that again at some point, but for this TV series, it hits with a bang right out of the gate, being pretty full-on for Jake, particuarly for a grisly scene where, due to his job, he’s allowed to Carolyn’s house where the crime took place, finding the police dusting for prints, alas with her body still in place, which is pretty grim.
Despite the title being ‘Presumed Innocent‘, some people want to make troublefor Sabich, and will happily bury him as quickly as they can if they can get away with it, assuming he did the deed, which leads to him being arrested. So, technically, he’s off the case and wants Horgan to represent him in court to get him through this and to be proved innocent.
For the main characters, Horgan is seeking re-election, but snapping at his heels is smarmy Nico Della Guardia (O-T Fagbenle – The Interceptor), who’s tight with Molto, and if Nico takes Horgan’s job, it could all make things very difficult for Rusty.
There are flashback scenes, which show Carolyn working as a prosecutor, and along the way, this drops hints at who the killer could be, but is that true? Well, you’d have to watch it to find out! I have just seen the first two episodes at the time of writing this, so I don’t know the answer, and wouldn’t spoil it even if I knew.
With Jake spending a lot of time full of angst, as usual, he’s on top form as is Bill Camp and Peter Sarsgaard. I saw one review in the Guardian, stating this feels quite sluggish, but for me, it’s going at a decent pace after the initial two episodes, is pretty gripping stuff, and I’m looking forward to more.
Of course, if anyone should end up in the dock, it’s the creators of Jake’s Road House remake!
Presumed Innocent is on Apple TV+ from Wednesday June 12th. Initially, two episodes are available, and additional episodes will stream weekly.
It isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-50 mins per episode (7 episodes)
Release date: June 12th 2024 (first 2 episodes, then weekly)
Studio: Apple TV+
Format: 2.00:1
Series Directors: Greg Yaitanes, Anne Sewitsky
Producers: Trevor Baker, Andrew Balek, Caroline James
Creator: David E Kelley
Screenplay: David E Kelley
Teleplay: David E Kelley, Miki Johnson, Sharr White
Novel: Scott Turow
Music: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
Cast:
Rusty Sabich: Jake Gyllenhaal
Barbara Sabich: Ruth Negga
Raymond Horgan: Bill Camp
Tommy Molto: Peter Sarsgaard
Nico Della Guardia: O-T Fagbenle
Jaden Sabich: Chase Infiniti
Carolyn Polhemus: Renate Reinsve
Kyle Sabich: Kingston Rumi Southwick
Lorraine Horgan: Elizabeth Marvel
Judge Lyttle: Noma Dumezweni
Mya Winslow: Gabby Beans
Eugenia: Virginia Kull
Dalton Caldwell: Matthew Alan
Michael Caldwell: Tate Birchmore
Mrs. Lancaster: Roberta Bassin
Det. Alana Rodriguez: Nana Mensah
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.