Absence of Malice Classic 80s Movie Review

One of the finest classic movies ever made about how the media can influence people's lives was "Absence of Malice" starring Paul Newman as Michael Gallagher in an Oscar-nominated best actor performance in 1981. Sally Field is investigative reporter Megan Carter for a daily newspaper who comes to realize that people's lives can be ruined by her relentless pursuit for tomorrow's headlines. Written by Kurt Luedtke and directed by Sydney Pollack, this tale about how accuracy and truth can sometimes lead to tragedy is just as relevant today, especially when we consider how celebrities and suspected criminals are tried in the courts of public opinion.

The name "Absence of Malice" comes from a little known and exercized legal term in the newspaper business. So long as a reporter is fair and balanced in reporting with no intention to due harm and so long as the story holds some semblance of truth, the reporter cannot be sued for liable. Malice aforethought would be the opposite, writing with malicious intent to harm, slander or otherwise destroy a person's reputation. The movie is a moral object lesson to anyone who is part of the media (video, print, audio, online) that words can hurt and those who are caught up inside the power of the press should stop and think before publishing.

Filmed in Florida, Michael Gallagher is set up by the prosecutor's office in order to disclose information they need in a criminal investigation. Since they have nothing to go on, they leak information to Megan Carter a newspaper reporter that there is an investigation, but do not say why. In order to give Michael Gallagher an alibi as to where he was during the alleged murder, a frail female friend who works for a Catholic school tells the reporter she knows Gallagher is innocent because he was with her the day she went for an abortion. Although Megan has reservations about printing the story, she runs it anyway without regard to how this might affect others. When the story hits the front page, the friend of Gallagher's is so distraught that her privacy has been violated that she commits suicide. During one of the most violently emotional scenes in the movie, Gallagher throws Megan to the floor of his warehouse asking, "couldn't you just stop scribbling with your pen for a moment and see what it could have meant to her?" "Didn't you even like her?"

The brilliance of the movie however lies in the novel way Gallagher (with the help of his undercover connections) is able to seek revenge by an elaborately planned out sting operation. He carefully sets out a trap for the prosecutor's office and the media by use of false phone calls to deter their wire-tapping, by sending phoney money orders to look like political favors and by pursuing a romantic relationship with Megan in order to find out who was behind the sting which set him up with the press in the first place. Wilfred Brimley, that amicable old coot who we now spot in commercials, plays the Attorney General who finally comes to the rescue to sort out all the confusion. You may remember his spoof of himself, playing the Postmaster General in an episode of Seinfield. Straight-talking and no-nonsense, the AG is able to get to the bottom of everyone's mental games.

In light of many high profile cases currently playing out the press recently such as Chris Brown's alleged domestic violence, Casey Anthony's alleged child-murder case in Florida and California Octomom's fertility overload, we would all do well to revisit the movie "Absence of Malice" and remember the media can become the message, so we should be mindful of how those messages are managed.