An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Acting
Bai Ling carries every scene she's in.
Production
Actually filmed in Beijing — rare for the era.
Director
Jon Avnet
Richard Gere
Jack Moore
Bai Ling
Shen Yuelin
Bradley Whitford
Bob Ghery
Byron Mann
Lin Dan
Peter Donat
David McAndrews
Robert Stanton
Ed Pratt
Tsai Chin
Chairman Xu
James Hong
Lin Shou
Tzi Ma
Li Cheng
Ulrich Matschoss
Gerhardt Hoffman
Richard Venture
Ambassador Reed
Jessey Meng
Hong Ling
Roger Yuan
Huan Minglu
Henry O
Procurator General Yang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
China banned the film and reportedly threatened to pull Disney's distribution rights over it — Gere's Tibet activism didn't help.
The film came out the same year as Hong Kong's handover, making its portrayal of Chinese justice politically explosive in ways the script barely acknowledges.
US
