Music Box (1989)

When a Hungarian emigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen (Armin Mueller Stahl) is charged with WWII war crimes by the U.S. Office Of Special Investigation, his attorney daughter (Jessica Lange) decides to represent him against the advice of her attorney father in law (Donald Moffat). Costa-Gavras specializes in political thrillers, films that often incorporate the ordinary person fighting the oppressive fascist state or the dissemination of evil ideology: MISSING, BETRAYED and, of course, his masterpiece Z. Based on an original screenplay by Joe Eszterhas (BASIC INSTINCT), the film fits neatly into the courtroom drama genre rather than political thriller even though the emphasis is on is he or isn't he a war criminal. There are no surprises, perhaps not even the somber last 15 minutes or so. The question the film raises ("is blood thicker than spilled blood") deserves a more complex examination. Still, it's a more than decent movie with a superb performance by Lange that justifiably earned her an Oscar nomination and Armin Mueller Stahl is top notch too. With Frederic Forrest, Lukas Haas and Michael Rooker.