In 1965 Los Angeles, two undercover police officers have been partners 9 days. Ian Campbell - Ted Danson - is the senior cop, who once was a pre-med student. His Scottish heritage includes his ability to play bagpipes. He's also married and has young children. As the junior partner, Karl Hettinger - John Savage - is also married and gave up the study of agriculture to become an officer. Unhappily, these two happen upon a suspicious car which makes an illegal U-turn. Inside are two life criminals. Jimmy Smith is a biracial, mostly petty thief. The other, Greg Powell - James Woods - is an evil guy with many crimes on his record. Once stopped, Powell deftly gets his gun at Campbells back and forces Hettinger to give up his weapon, too. Now in charge, the perps drive the 2 cops north to an onion field near Bakersfield. Soon after, Campbell is executed. Amazingly, Hettinger runs away as clouds cover the moonlight and escapes. Almost at once, the two killers are caught. But, will justice follow? And will Hettinger be able to handle the trauma that was inflicted on him and continues long after ? Here is a deeply sad and disturbing look at a famous true crime. Joseph Wambaugh wrote the screenplay from his epic work. As the unfortunate police officers, Danson and Hettinger give haunting performances while James Woods scares the living daylights out of most viewers as the evil Powell. If crime thrillers are interesting to you, the Onion Field is a fine choice. But be prepared to cry and rage.
Review of The Onion Field
