Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi), an up-and-comer in the Kindle County D.A.'s Office, is found viciously murdered in her home. Immediately her boss, D.A. Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy) and his chief deputy, Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) start an investigation. Horgan, however, is in the middle of a campaign to keep his job, which he ultimately loses to former subordinate Nico Della Guardia (Tom Mardirosian). Della Guardia and his new deputy, Tommy Molto (Joe Grifasi), decide to prosecute Sabich for Carolyn's murder when it is revealed that Sabich was her former lover. Horgan also turns against his former subordinate, and Rusty soon realizes he has few friends left - except for Sandy Stern (Raul Juliá), whom he has often faced on the other side of the courtroom, and who will become his new defense lawyer when he is put on trial for murder.
It was the only career collaboration between Williams and director Pakula. At the time Williams himself didn’t have much experience of writing music for courtroom thrillers either, so this score offers a rare opportunity to experience Williams’s approach to writing music for a film which required no action, no sweeping love themes, and no brassy fanfare marches or main titles. The approach Williams ultimately took was to create a dour, oppressive mood with a score for a limited orchestral palette comprising mostly strings and piano and a solo horn, with just a few woodwinds here and there, all augmented by unusually prominent keyboards. The music is suspenseful and atmospheric throughout, and usually quite understated, only really rising to make its voice heard and its presence felt during heightened moments of emotion or revelation. Everything is anchored around the excellent main theme.
