82 - "The Accused" (1988)

     Jodie Foster is probably my favorite actress and one of the few currently going who you can feel pretty confident that even if the movie is not that great, it's not going to be because of her performance. She is the recipient of 2 Best Actress Oscar awards and the first came for this film, The Accused. Foster plays Sarah Tobias, who as the movie opens has just escaped after being raped by three men in a bar. Slowly we start to get more of the back story and we realize that Sarah was on drugs and drinking and may have been acting provocatively towards the men. When her attackers receive very light sentences, Sarah is crushed and ends up being taunted by a gentleman who was there during the act and encouraged the attackers to continue. Sarah approaches the district attorney, Kathryn Murphy, who decides to go after the individuals in the bar who cheered on the events. Murphy, portrayed by the wonderful Kelly McGillis, goes against the advice of her superiors and sets out to right the injustice that was done to Sarah, despite the fact she does not fully approve of the way Sarah acted that night. The acting by Foster and McGillis in this film is top notch and the movie is worth seeing just for that fact alone
(Note: The entire rape scene is shown late in the film. This scene is pretty brutal and can be hard to watch. This is not a movie for kids to see for sure and even some adults may have some serious issues with the fact so much of this is shown in the movie. I'm not saying avoid it, because it does a play a major role in the emotions of the story, just be noted that it can be tough to watch at times.)