You can tell showrunner David E. Kelley, who played a part in legal dramas and mysteries like Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, and Big Little Lies, is a master of the genre. Presumed Innocent is carefully paced, confidently performed, and smartly written, making it a thrilling watch regardless if you’ve seen the 1990 feature and 1987 novel of the same name. It’s not without its misses though, the biggest one being the lack of believable chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Reinsve, who seems miscast in this series. As much as I loved her in The Worst Person in the World, she seems to exude an awkward sensuality that affects the realism of the series. On the other hand, Ruth Negga, who plays Gyllenhaal’s wife, and Peter Sarsgaard, who plays his political rival, command every scene they’re in and perfectly match Gyllenhaal’s crazed intensity. Whenever the show skews formulaic, it’s their solid performances that save the scene.
"Presumed Innocent is a fun, lurid, flawed, addictive whodunnit."
— Vinson Cunningham
"This is David E. Kelley working in the register he excels at: a legal thriller with just enough interpersonal relationship drama and a touch of mystery."
— Max Covill
A horrific murder upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney's Office when one of its own is suspected of the crime—leaving the accused fighting to keep his family together.
The life of famed prosecutor and family man Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal) makes a turn for the worst when he becomes the prime suspect in the gruseome murder of his colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve), with whom he’s also been having an affair.
The intense, believable rivalry between Gyllenhaal’s Sabich and Sarsgaard’s Molto. So this is how I find out they’re brothers-in-law in real life, huh?
Did they need to make an eight-episode adaptation when the 1990 feature is just fine? No. Is it still enjoyable? Hell yeah.
It would have been a good movie. Instead it was a ponderous eight hour parade of a misdirection of false suspects, irrelevant personal conflicts and misleading story twists. All of which lead to a preposterous two minute confession. It was a great movie, but a lousy miniseries.