MovieChat Forums > Presumed Innocent (1990) Discussion > So what was the wife's intention?

So what was the wife's intention?

posted 5 years ago by Heisenberg (6285)
9 replies | jump to latest

I like this movie and Raul Julia is just one of the best movie lawyers ever!

SPOILERS AHEAD: the last five minutes are crap. I understand we have to have a murderer, and it could be the wife ok, but it's way too brilliant an execution of a plan that doesn't even make sense.

She wanted to go back to normality without the destroyer.
Why frame her husband in such a detailed way?
Ok so she wanted to have her revenge on him too.
So why leave the murder weapon in those conditions, get cought and even more admit everything like that?
What is her plan?
I cannot understand it, but maybe they wanted her to be a complete crazy idiot and to show that she makes a plan that doesn't even make sense.

[–] lolkatz (475) 5 years ago

It doesn't make sense, you're right. She went so far as to inject her own husband's frozen sperm from her own diaphragm into the victim, but somehow she never had the intent on framing him with the murder.

[–] PaladinNJ (20308) 5 years ago

in the book, Lipranza tells Rusty outright he believes she intended for him to be framed. Rusty doesn't believe it to be so.

[–] Heisenberg (6285) 5 years ago

Ok but that's not an explaination for her "plan", which still wouldn't make sense.
She wanted to destroy the destroyer, which she achieved.
So she wanted to punish her husband too? With a life sentence? And kept the weapon and fessed everything because...?

How does Lipranzer phrases it in the book? Does he specifically mention the wife or says "somebody wanted to frame you"?

[–] PaladinNJ (20308) 5 years ago

It's been a while and i don't have a copy of the book. I don't believe she confessed in the book. Rusty put it together. When Lipranzer gives him the glass, Rusty takes him into his confidence tells him how he figured it out. Lipranzer says that his wife tried to frame him and made sure all the evidence pointed to him. Some of the evidence Lipranzer was familiar with and knew it belonged to Rusty but didn't say anything. He says something along the lines that Rusty being given the case was just dumb luck and ruined her plans.

If you think about it keeping the weapon also leads to Rusty. She even created an alibi at the college for herself.

[–] Heisenberg (6285) 5 years ago

Her keeping the weapon does lead to Rusty, you r right.
Ok so putting it together: she wanted to kill her and frame him.
The weapon was there for that purpose.
It makes more sense in the book, that she doesn't confess.
In the movie she kinda felt sorry for him and wanted to say everything even in court.
It's still a crazy plan, but at least it makes sense.

[–] PaladinNJ (20308) 5 years ago

The craziest thing is that he does this rationalization thing where he doesn't believe she meant to frame him just leave him the various clues. He even ends up staying with her. If it were me, I'd have got the hell out of the house and take the kid with me.

[–] Iconoclast321 (375) 5 years ago

Would you please be so kind to change the title of your post? You may not think that it qualifies as a spoiler, but for some people, it will be, unfortunately.
Something like 'A question about the ending (SPOILERS)' would be much nicer for people who have not seen the movie yet.

It didn't spoil it for me, but it will for (at least some) others. Thank you on their behalf.

[–] Druff (1446) 3 years ago

To me, it was obvious that, yes, the wife's original plan was to frame Rusty and have him convicted and sent up the river. But through the course of events as he went to trial, she then came to realize and accept that he did love her. So when her attempt to frame him ultimately failed, she was OK with that. She merely shifted gears into then wanting him to know that she was the one who set him up.

[–] Heisenberg (6285) a year ago

Ok, that also goes with what the movie shows.
It would have been better cinema if they elaborated her part a bit more, to show us the changes you have described, instead of that confession monologue.

As a final wrap up, she never says anything about killing that poor woman.
And even worse she just dumps all this knowledge on Rusty to deal with.
If I were him I would get out that instant and get her in a mental hospital.
What a crazy bitch!