Absence of Malice
Suppose you picked up this morning's newspaper and your life was a front page headline... And everything they said was accurate... But none of it was true.

Absence of Malice (1981)

Drama | Romance | Thriller
DVD, 116 minutes
Rating: 6.9
Country: USA
Director: Sydney Pollack
Writer: Kurt Luedtke | David Rayfiel
Producer: Sydney Pollack | Ronald L. Schwary
Music: Dave Grusin

Plot outline

When a prosecutor leaks a false story that a liquor warehouse owner is involved in the murder of an union head, the man's life begins to unravel. Michael Colin Gallagher is the son of a long dead Mafia boss who is a simple liquor warehouse owner. Frustrated in his attempt to solve a murder of a union head, a prosecutor leaks a false story that Gallagher is a target of the investigation, hoping that he will tell them something for protection. As his life begins to unravel, others are hurt by the story. Megan Carter, the reporter, is in the clear under the Absence of Malice rule in slander and libel cases. Knowing nothing to trade to the prosecutors, Gallagher must regain control of his life on different ground.

Cast

  • Paul Newman
  • Sally Field
  • Bob Balaban
  • Melinda Dillon
  • Luther Adler
  • Barry Primus
  • Josef Sommer
  • John Harkins
  • Don Hood
  • Wilford Brimley
  • Arnie Ross
  • Phanie Napoli
  • Shelley Spurlock
  • Shawn McAllister
  • Joe Petrullo
  • William Kerwin
  • Oswaldo Calvo
  • Clardy Malugen
  • Sharon Anderson
  • Jody Wilson
  • Ilse Earl
  • Alfredo Álvarez Calderón
  • Pat Sullivan
  • Bill Hindman
  • John Archie
  • Timothy Hawkins
  • Ricardo Márquez
  • Patricia Matzdorff
  • Diane Zolten
  • Kathy Suergiu
  • Jeff Gillen
  • Ted Bartsch
  • Sugar Ray Mann
  • Richard O'Barry
  • Chuck Lupo
  • John DiSanti
  • Laurie V. Logan
  • Jack McDermott
  • Mark Harris
  • Bobbie Ellyne Kosstrin
  • Lynn Parraga
  • Lee Sandman
  • Barry Hober
  • Gary Van Auken
  • Phanie Napoli