The Onion Field

Starring:John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson, Ronny Cox, David Huffman, Christopher Lloyd, Dianne Hull, Priscilla Pointer, Beege Barkette, Richard Herd, Le Tari, Richard Venture, Lee Weaver (II), Pat Corley, K Callan, Sandy McPeak, Lillian Randolph, Ned Wilson, Jack Rader
Director: Harold Becker
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

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One night in 1963, two plainclothes LAPD officers were abducted by armed small-time criminals after a routine traffic stop, then driven to a remote area where one was brutally executed. The other officer managed to escape and the perpetrators were captured and brought to trial. Despite overwhelming evidence, the slayers managed to drag the justice process on for years through appeals and delaying tactics, one of them making use of the prison law library to become a "jailhouse lawyer." Taken from the Joseph Wambaugh book, The Onion Field is a true story about a case that changed LAPD policies forever. More than a simple police procedural, though, the film is a character study that follows the aftermath of the murder for all involved. John Savage, as the surviving officer, is called on over and over to reenact the event in court, chided by his superiors and eventually fired from the force, with redemption a long way off. He does a great job in a harrowing role as frustration, guilt, and depression cause his life and career to disintegrate over time. There are impressive early performances by Ted Danson and James Woods (setting the tone for countless raw-nerve, psycho-lowlife roles that Woods would take on in the future). The compelling script, written by ex-cop Wambaugh (with no studio interference), is a reminder of why he's one of novelist James Ellroy's favorite writers. It's a story of tragedy and hope, dignity and pain, with a potent emotional payoff. --Jerry Renshaw

Description

From a real-life American tragedy, this tale of thoughtless brutality, cold-blooded murder and hard-won justice is "a prowling, gripping, disturbing movie" (Newsweek). Starring John Savage and James Woods and featuring a stunning attention to detail and an unflinching emotional honesty, The Onion Field is "intriguing, absorbing, powerful, well-acted" (Film Journal) - and riveting from beginning to end. On March 9, 1963, LAPD officers Karl Hettinger (Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) pull over a vehicle for making an illegal U-turn - and find themselves held at gunpoint by two seasoned armed robbers. Forced to give up their guns and drive to a deserted road, both officers face the horror of becoming victims in a mob-style execution...but only one is able to escape into the bleak darkness of an onion field.

Customer Reviews:

A marvelous account of a true tragedy.......2007-05-15

I've never read a book from Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned author who wrote the source material for this movie, but I sort of feel like diving into his works after seeing how great this cinematic translation of a true event worked out. "The Onion Field" the movie went on receive good reviews. I think the success of the film comes from the fact that Wambaugh retained complete control over every aspect of the film's production. According to an extra on the DVD, director Harold Becker, Wambaugh himself, and some of the author's friends put up the money to make the movie. That's a smart move if you can swing it. Keeping the Hollywood suits out of the filmmaking process cuts down significantly on pesky interruptions and annoying demands for all sorts of post-production changes. A typical studio might well have turned "The Onion Field" into a different creature entirely, and we the audience would be all the poorer for it. This is a masterful movie, a film that examines the heinousness of murder, the myriad failings of the criminal justice system, and the psychological problems that everyone involved in such a gruesome crime experiences afterwards.

"The Onion Field" introduces us to two Los Angeles cops, Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) and Karl Hettinger (John Savage). The two have just become partners, and they couldn't be more unalike. Campbell loves playing bagpipes and is a friendly, talkative sort of fellow. Hettinger is quiet and somewhat awkward. We get the feeling they'll make a good team out on the road, though. Then the movie introduces us to a couple of pathetic losers, ex-cons Gregory Powell (James Woods) and Jimmy Smith (Franklyn Seales). The two men know each other because they spent time together in the same prison, and it's fairly obvious they have a weird psychological relationship with one another. Powell is a mouthy jerk, a big talker whose stint behind bars proves he isn't as big a fish as he thinks he is. Smith is quieter, but he's a follower that needs the attention Powell provides. The two plan to rob a liquor store as a way of starting their crime spree. Unfortunately, Campbell and Hettinger end up pulling the two men over on the pretext of a minor traffic infraction. The resulting stop leads to a series of events that find Powell and Smith taking the two cops hostage.

Here's where the title of the film comes in. Out in the sticks, out where the onion fields lay, the two criminals viciously gun down Ian Campbell. Hettinger, who willingly turned his gun over to the criminals, manages to escape the two and find help. At this point, the movie turns to a brutal examination of the American justice system and the psychological helplessness Hettinger feels over the death of his partner. Powell and Smith, quickly apprehended by the authorities, stand trial for capital murder. The courtroom quickly devolves into histrionics. Powell and Smith each claim the other killed Campbell, argue with the court over their representation, and thus drag out their trial and subsequent appeals for years. At one point, Powell even represents himself. Meanwhile, Hettinger feels the scorn of his fellow officers over the fact that he turned his gun over. Unable to deal with the guilt of living when Campbell died, he begins acting out in strange ways that cause him even more grief. "The Onion Field" follows both of these stories as the years melt away, as the specifics of the crime dissolve into endless hearings and heartrending grief. Becker and Wambaugh made a devastatingly powerful film, and one that holds up with repeated viewings.

I have no complaints with the film. None. Not a scrap of celluloid goes to waste here. The only problem I have with reviewing "The Onion Field" is picking out my favorite scenes. I liked the banter between Campbell and Hettinger at the beginning of the film. I liked the complex portrayals of Powell and Smith. I liked the depiction of the heinous crime. I liked everything that followed. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't focus in on several amazing scenes, the most amazing of which involves John Savage's character. An excellent actor too often relegated to b-movie schlock, his performance here is worthy of an Oscar. You can FEEL his guilt like it's a palpable force. The scene where he considers taking his own life simply blew me away. How he hits rock bottom and then comes to live with his guilt is both believable and marvelously rendered. I'd also like to say a few words about James Woods. He's a favorite actor of mine, and this movie only confirmed my opinions about him. He depicts Powell's over the top character without making it hammy--an ability he still summons at will today. The part where he puts his mother on the witness stand and proceeds to question her should be shown at acting schools across the country. It's that good.

The DVD version of "The Onion Field" contains two significant supplements. The first is a commentary track from director Harold Becker, the second a short featurette containing interviews with Ted Danson, John Savage, Joseph Wambaugh, James Woods. Both supplements add significant details to the film, so you should definitely give both of them a spin after watching the movie. At this point, let me give you a final reason why you should pick up "The Onion Field". In a time when Hollywood essentially made movies that gave cops the middle finger, this movie shows us in detail the agony a police officer goes through after a tragic, on the job incident. We often hear the criminal's side of the story (far too often, in my opinion) and maybe some stuff about the victim's family, but we never see what happens to the law enforcement officers. There's one more reason you should watch the movie. Now get out there and see it!

Unsatifying.......2007-04-18

When the movie finally ended, I felt let down and unsatisfied. The story lacked thematic focus--it tried to be a cop thriller, a legal thriller, and even, to some extent, a psyhological thriller and ended up being none of these. Because of this lack of focus, the story was devoid of ongoing escalating suspense leading to a power-punch ending. The ending left me flat, and even worse, we're never told who actually fired the four all-important gun shots, as both suspects accused the other.

James Woods, a truly great actor, is not as great as he was in later movies (Indictment, True Believer). During the first half of the movie, he portrays a fascinating psychopathic killer; but in the second half, when he decides to become his own lawyer, his character change to a pseudo-intellectual attorney was too vast and thus somewhat unbelievable to me. Sure, he was playacting for the jury and spectators, but we still should have been able to see a bit of the killer bubbling under the false personna he was displaying. This would have layered the characterization and kept it believable.

The prison shower scene, leading to oral sex from Smith to Powell was completely gratuitous and unbelievable. It made no sense and was unnecessary. There was absolutely no motivation given for Smith to become so sorrowful, humble, and submissive to Powell. If anything, he seemed hostile and enraged enough to want to kill him, not apologize to a person who had obviously manipulated him.

The psychological damage experienced by the John Savage character was interesting and believable, but unfortunately we never really knew enough about him to truly like, care for and sympathize with him. Therefore, his mental depression, guilt, remorse, and general tailspin have no real or resounding impact. It's a so-what situation. Also, his later improvement seems far too abrupt, without any basis or justification. Suddenly, he's all better and playfully throwing his wife into the lake. What made him change so drastically? Time? Not good enough. We needed to see the process of self-forgiveness, and how he worked through it to come back to normal state.

I would NOT reccommend this movie, chiefly because the writing, the acting, and the directing were, to me, way off kilter, leaving me with a sense of indifference or ho-hum feeling.

WHAT THE HECK (once again...).......2006-10-10

This is one of those films that makes me think it must be impossible for anyone to make a truly great film. The back cover makes it sound like a must-see for anyone going through a tough time in their lives and wanting a shoulder to lean on, and it seems all the critics concur that that's not an inacurate description, yet when I tried watching this film, I couldn't stand it! The whole thing was a jumbled mess. It kept going back and forth between things that I just didn't care about, tedious, boring things, and I think it focused too much on the criminals involved in the story, making them sound sympathetic or whatever, when the film was about a cop who was overcome by grief (supposedly, or something like that) at the death of his partner who was VICIOUSLY KILLED by a criminal. A story like this shouldn't spend petty time detailing the exploits, trials and tribulations and whatnot of why the vicious killer kills people and does whatever else and all whatever...and when the writer wasn't focusing on the goodfornothing criminals, it focused on a bunch of pathetic backstory, the kind that makes teenagers cringe at the thought of reading a book (too much "character development"). And then I saw a truly breathtaking film, titled BATMAN RETURNS (1992) and was blown away by its depiction of heartbreak combined with stunning visuals, and everyone else is like "oh, who cares?" I truly hate this film and I hate the society that lets people make such mediocre crap and then acts like its THEIR civil duty to put up with it (as in watch it) and then say they liked it. And no, not all my favorite films are action/pop-corn flix. I also liked 1999's BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, as well as 1976's TAXI DRIVER, and I even enjoy the occasional "little movie" (there's too many to mention, but I'll start with the last one I saw that I enjoyed: THE WILD DOGS, by the director of THE HANGING GARDEN - another film I hated). Ok, that's all I have to say about this film.

Smart, Well Crafted, Real - Truly Excellent.......2006-08-21

Released in 1979, The Onion Field never seems dated, (apart from seeing a VW bug swerve to avoid a Corvair). It moves with cold, clear-eyed deliberation, fueled by great writing, acting, and directing. Ex-cop Joseph Wambaugh, who wrote the book and screenplay, had been burned by the Hollywood studio system's adaptation of The Choirboys. Wisely, he and director Harold Becker funded much of The Onion Field themselves in exchange for total creative control. The result is a rich, textured masterpiece that looks far beneath the flash at the end of a barrel. From cop to criminal to collateral damage, the people in this film are so real you might easily pass them on the street.

Today's batch of filmmakers would be well served to revisit The Onion Field. One person is shot in this movie, that is the sum total of on-screen violence. Despite this, there is a tension and dread pervading every frame arising from the many levels of cruelty and injustice; it is simply impossible to turn away. Slaughtering one hundred cartoon characters with a sword registers zero on the emotional Richter scale, (it's a cheap device for a lazy and unimaginative slacker), but when one person dies and we care desperately, not just for him, but for those touched by the loss, now you are in the realm of art.

Gregory Ulas Powell, one of the most unsettling bad guys in all cinema, is the prototypical James Woods role. This is his masterpiece performance; in some ways it doomed him to a life of playing psychos and maniacs. (On the other hand, he never had much of a shot at those Robert Redford, Paul Newman parts.) Woods deserved an Oscar; he is simply perfect as the creepy but complex Powell, a sociopath who is brilliant, insane, manipulative, profoundly needy, naive, and incredibly stupid all at once. Powell's ability to corrupt and jigger the judicial system powers the back end of this film, and it is here that the unfairness and destruction become intolerable. Where a million lesser movies end with the steel door closing on the perp, The Onion Field takes us into the painful machinations of briefs and appeals that defer punishment so richly deserved. The toll is harrowing.

Detective Karl Francis Hettinger is the most visible casualty. He feels responsible for the death of his partner and spirals downward, almost to the point of suicide. There is one scene involving him and his infant daughter that is far more painful to watch than the killing. John Savage is faultless in this role, bringing a subtle process of emotional decomposition to the screen that is a testament both to him, and to Wambaugh's writing. In essence, the murder is a pebble in the water with ripples spreading far and wide. Jimmy Smith, who has the misfortune of being recruited by Powell, is brought to life by Franklyn Seales. Never has there been a more sympathetic crook, in Smith we see how some men do not choose evil but are simply too weak to resist the current.

The Onion Field is a masterwork on every level; it belongs in your collection.

Orchids for THE ONION FIELD.......2005-12-05

Based on the true crime story of the same title written by Joseph Wambaugh, this 1979 movie is really well done. It stars James Woods ("Ghosts of Mississippi") as a cold-blooded cop killer, a very young Ted Danson (a household word because of "Cheers") as the police office he brutally kills, and John Savage ("The Godfather Part III") as the survivng officer who is riddled with guilt to the point that he engages in petty theft in order to be punished and ultimately is fired from the LA Police Department.

While all the actors give fine performances, James Woods is outstanding as a manipulative killer. The title of the movie comes from a field of onions where the killers take the two police officers after they abduct them.

I never saw this film when it was first released. With all the publicity recently about the Clutter murders in Kansas because of the movie "Capote," perhaps "The Onion Field" will experience a much deserved revival.

Average customer rating:

A marvelous account of a true tragedy
Unsatifying
WHAT THE HECK (once again...)
Smart, Well Crafted, Real - Truly Excellent
Orchids for THE ONION FIELD

The Onion Field [Region 2]
Starring: John Savage , James Woods , Franklyn Seales , Ted Danson , and Ronny Cox
Director: Harold Becker
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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