Absence of Malice (1981)
Sally
Field plays a Miami reporter who has been working for the city's
leading newspaper for three years.
She needs a scoop and nothing much is happening, so she decides
to check into the latest developments on a case involving the
mysterious disappearance of a local union boss.
 Overhearing some gossip about a local liquor wholesaler whose
name is being mentioned as a possible suspect in the case, she
decides to print the rumour.
Paul Newman plays Gallagher - The innocent man who suddenly
reads his name in the newspaper linked with a scandal that could
possibly lead to a murder rap.
Before he can establish an alibi or
plead 'not guilty', his business is ruined by the longshoreman's
union, his reputation is smeared, and his best friend commits
suicide.
"Do you think this is right?" he asks. "I'm
never sure what's right," says the reporter. "I just
print the truth and let someone else figure out what's
right".
As an honest, unvarnished close-up of journalism and how it
works, Absence of Malice takes you into the heart of a big-city
newspaper (Interiors were actually filmed inside the Miami
Herald). It also highlights the dilemma reporters face when tom
between human instinct and doing their job.
It certainly shows the hopeless frustration, confusion, and
rage of the people who see their whole lives spread naked in
banner headlines and gossip columns.
Sally Field is not a villain. She's a good reporter. Her big
mistake is her eagerness to make a name for herself in a
profession where the printed word can make by-line celebrities out
of faceless reporters at the expense of innocent bystanders.
She's a patsy, too, since her information has been planted by
corrupt politicians to pacify an anxiety-ridden public. Her
ambition leads her to front-page glory even though she didn't
check her facts or do her homework.
Her problems increase when she falls in love with the man she's
trying to expose. Paul Newman's problem is clearing his name
without destroying her credibility and her career.
Everybody gets hurt, and nobody walks off into a Technicolor
sunset with the loose ends neatly tied together.
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