Five-time Oscar nominee Sidney Lumet (Network, Dog Day Afternoon) directs John Hopkins' play and gives us an intense and revealing portrait of the effect of years of crawling around in the slime, and what it can do to people.
Whether it be child abuse investigators, or social workers, or soldiers, or police; dealing with the sordid and dangerous side of society takes it toll.
It certainly did on Sean Connery, who had 25 years dealing with the worst criminals. he finally lost it all when faced with a child molester. Psychologists would call it "stamp collecting." Every little injury is placed in an album and cashed in all at once. Couples do this all the time, as do employees. Ignore the hurt for the moment and then cash them in at some insignificant time. In this case, Connery cashed in when he just couldn't take it anymore.
Oscar-nominated Ian Bannen (The Flight of the Phoenix) gave an incredibly good performance as the molester.
A superb film that shows the stress of dealing with society's ills.
Whether it be child abuse investigators, or social workers, or soldiers, or police; dealing with the sordid and dangerous side of society takes it toll.
It certainly did on Sean Connery, who had 25 years dealing with the worst criminals. he finally lost it all when faced with a child molester. Psychologists would call it "stamp collecting." Every little injury is placed in an album and cashed in all at once. Couples do this all the time, as do employees. Ignore the hurt for the moment and then cash them in at some insignificant time. In this case, Connery cashed in when he just couldn't take it anymore.
Oscar-nominated Ian Bannen (The Flight of the Phoenix) gave an incredibly good performance as the molester.
A superb film that shows the stress of dealing with society's ills.