to the murder mystery. It's that the studio wants to further the impression that the movie is full of surprises." Richard Schickel of Time magazine disregarded the request and revealed Rusty's innocence in his review. He wrote, "Carolyn's murderer has an excellent motive both for killing her... But it is hard to accept the possibility that the real perpetrator would leave his escape from the trap entirely to chance." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Even if you think you know what the solution is, the performances are so clever and the screenplay ... is so subtle that it could well turn out that your expectations are wrong." Sheila Benson, writing for the Los Angeles Times, stated, "Intelligent, complex and enthralling, Presumed Innocent ... is one of those rare films where all the players seem to be in a state of grace, where the working of the machinery never shows and after it's over, one runs and reruns its intricacies with a profound sense of satisfaction." Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, called the film "a smart, passionate, steadily engrossing thriller". Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised Pakula's direction, writing, "Pakula has directed an intense, enveloping, gratifyingly thorough screen adaptation of Mr. Turow's story." Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote that film was "a top-notch courtroom drama that will keep you guessing if you haven't read the book; even if you have, it is still a very well crafted story." Variety magazine praised the performances, writing, "Ford, in a very mature, subtle, lowkey performance, pulls off the difficult feat of making it impossible to be sure. Bedelia is wondrously controlled, and Scacchi, sans any hint of a European accent, is convincing and seductive." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune praised the supporting cast, writing, "Raul Julia is excellent as Ford's sinister defense attorney. John Spencer, Joe Grifasi, Tom Mardirosian and Sab Shimono are each compelling as investigator, political lackey, prosecutor and coroner." Owen Gleiberman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, criticized Pakula's direction, stating, "Pakula is good at laying out an intricate, almost mathematical series of events (his best film remains All the President's Men), but he's not big on atmosphere. The movie could have used some of the bowels-of-the-city grit Sidney Lumet brought to Q&A." Dave Kehr, also writing for the Chicago Tribune, stated, "Though it's a handsome film, carefully staged and courageously low-key, the transition to the screen