Sydney Pollack
Absence Of Malice (Diritto Di Cronaca)

In 1981 Sydney Pollack brings to the screen a story that is very relevant and allows us to look into the mechanisms by which the press obtains its working material: the news.

The world of print media in this film is the absolute protagonist, both in good and bad; how far can one go to report a story, what rules should be followed to disseminate it in the best way, and then the right to report must be respected, but what is its limit? "Diritto Di Cronaca" is the Italian adaptation of the film's title, and for once it is good, immediately highlighting the right point for the theme addressed. The original, "Absence Of Malice," is not reductive and focuses on the downside, the negative consequences that a certain article, written without malice (the title indeed), can have on the lives of those mentioned in it.

Written by Kurt Luedtke, a former reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner, "Diritto Di Cronaca" brings us the sordid story of a government agent (Bob Balaban) who, without a lead to follow, decides to orchestrate a leak on the local press to solve a murder case of a Miami dock unionist. In this false report, it is revealed that the main suspect is the son (Paul Newman) of a liquor smuggling boss at odds with the dock workers' union. The news is false and, in the agent’s intentions, should serve to push the man to cooperate with justice to provide some insight into the investigation line. The story inevitably entangles the journalist (Sally Field) who is baited to materialize the leak. Michael Colin Gallagher's struggle to prove his innocence and save his reputation will be challenging and not without suffering.

Pollack directs very well and uses a pair of very talented actors. Paul Newman is a guarantee; in many scenes and especially in the final inquiry, he exhibits perfect command of his role. Sally Field is no less. The role of journalist Megan Carter is not one of the easiest; she is not an ambiguous and unscrupulous figure, Megan is simply a woman trying to do her job in the best possible way (without malice), she is just the tip of the iceberg as Gallagher says, in the end, she will be for Mike an excellent journalist, she, tested by the experience, will answer with a significant and humble "not yet". Sally Field with her baby face cannot incite hatred, and indeed Pollack in choosing her made the right choice because she is also a victim of a system that doesn't look anyone in the face and often exploits facts without knowing them and without first proving their truth, and then she is one of the best actresses of her generation (that of colleague Diane Keaton).

Shot entirely in Miami in 1980, it has a good pace and dialogues that must be followed very carefully because it is in the streams of words exchanged by all the protagonists that there is criticism of the press that "does not report the truth but only what people say".