Have you ever wanted to watch an everyday person overthrow a wide-ranging government conspiracy? If that’s your dream, High Crimes, starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman is your fix.

The Mirror gives it a three out of five, IMDB a 6.1 of 10. The plot revolves around a lawyer (Judd) and her husband who is arrested out of the blue one day by the FBI for reasons of national security. Fighting to save her husband, she hires an ex-military lawyer to help on the case (Freeman). The trial proceeds until her husband is released and acquited of his murder charges. Random incidents of violence and threats against the lawyers are interspersed for effect.

The best part is the ending–relaxing in the arms of her husband, our lawyer gets a call from Freeman in Mexico. He tells her that it was her husband who committed the atrocities, and who was actually guilty as charged. A brawl ensues, after which the movie ends. But, the sheer horror of imagining that the man you set free was guilty is overpowering. Judd’s look of horror, and her husband’s glazed military look, are memorable.

The plot is somewhat predictable, but our two star actors pump the plot. Morgan Freeman, as always, does a good job of playing the cool, down-on-his-luck lawyer / detective. Ashely Judd positively glistens–it’s worth watching for her alone.