Presumed Innocent

Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent is a sleek and riveting legal thriller, thanks to great performances and writer David E. Kelley’s courtroom expertise.

Despite not always being a compelling mystery, “Presumed Innocent” makes up for it in spades with a fantastic ensemble and a captivating feud between two egotistical lawyers. This is David E. Kelley working in the register he excels at: a legal thriller with just enough interpersonal relationship drama and a touch of mystery.

Entirely watchable, “Presumed Innocent” is one of the best legal thrillers to arrive on television in years.

Apple TV+'s Presumed Innocent is a masterclass in how to take the source material and honor it while also doing something completely new with a familiar story. Its nuanced approach to justice, lust, power, ethics, and pride makes it one of the standout television shows of the year.

Should be the television talk of the summer, which is fitting considering Turow’s novel has long been an ideal beach read.

You’ll get sucked in from the start, and will continually waffle over Rusty’s innocence and the list of potential suspects. “Presumed Innocent” makes a strong case that Kelley needs to stick to making legal thrillers. It’s what he excels at.

As he proved with A Man in Full, Kelley isn’t afraid to do major reconstructive surgery on a novel’s ending, so it’s possible that Turow's past is not his prologue. No matter how it ends, Presumed Innocent makes nostalgia feel fresh.

Unlike your standard issue by-the-numbers thriller, this is classy, captivating, grown-up entertainment.

A rare example of a TV drama which expands significantly on its original source material yet never feels baggy or indulgent, and will keep you guessing every step of the way.

While it’s going about unspooling the threads of its complex plot, Presumed Innocent is very good at being old-fashioned, episodic television.

Kelley shows here that a series can be talky yet still tense, and often fascinating, with the right cast.

It just works, even if using such gimmicks as violent dream sequences sometimes feels like pushing the envelope a little too hard. But even that fits within the show's context and slippery texture as it navigates between lies and truths, hatred and love, volatile obsession and tender intimacy.

“Presumed Innocent” — two episodes are currently available, with new episodes arriving on Wednesdays — remains a solid beach read of a whodunit. Apple TV+, which premiered the series on Wednesday, did not provide critics with the final episode, and I still don’t feel sure of who committed the crime — always a good sign.

It loses the thread a little as Peter Sarsgaard tries to top his real-life brother-in-law by playing someone who is somehow even more unlikable. Thankfully, Ruth Negga offsets them both by offering a stabilizing presence to both the central murder mystery and the show itself.

Rusty, who is both the investigator and the accused, is not sympathetic, nor does Gyllenhaal make him interestingly unsympathetic. .... Negga makes a strong impression as Barbara. .... It’s a straightforward, mostly unfussy, workman-like production.

"Presumed Innocent" has a lot going for it, including sensational performances by Peter Sarsgaard, Bill Camp and Gabby Beans. But we've been burned by Mr. Kelley before. .... Ms. Negga is largely wasted, her moody scenes involving a revenge fling with a hunky bartender (Sarunas J. Jackson) ratcheting the considerable tension down; Barbara seems washed out by her husband's behavior. But Mya is refreshingly no-nonsense.

Their [Rusty and Barbara's] emotional interactions give Presumed Innocent the heft it needs to escape from its otherwise generic identity. In the process, Gyllenhaal and Negga deliver excellent, all-encompassing work.