"The Onion Field" is a movie that features two fascinating performances, but draws back to include so many other characters that it dangerously loses focus. It has an obvious debt to "In Cold Blood", made the decade before: it's also a true crime tale of murder about two criminals. This comparison isn't favourable, however: whereas "In Cold Blood" had a single-mindedness that was almost unbearable, "The Onion Field" is baggy and vague. It feels like part true crime tale, part Southern Gothic story, but the latter isn't handled as well as the former, and distracts us from it.
It's a movie I wanted to like more than I did, because there is a well- told story in there. Just expect to have to do some digging to find it.
It's a movie I wanted to like more than I did, because there is a well- told story in there. Just expect to have to do some digging to find it.