High Crimes

Billed as a thriller, High Crimes plays more like a soap opera, since its heroine (Ashley Judd) and her hunky husband (Jim Caviezel) keep breaking down in tears. Judd is a defense attorney whose enigmatic other half is a former Marine who gets court-martialed for murders he says he didn’t commit. Facing a military judicial system stacked against her, she enlists the help of a ragtag, recovering-alcoholic lawyer (Freeman) who has experience in Army trials.

After all the legal maneuvering and weeping, there’s hardly any time left for thrills until the far-fetched, twisty conclusion. Only the pretty San Francisco locations — captured well by director Carl Franklin — and the even prettier Judd are worth saluting.