The Music Box  

By Tom Keogh

This 1989 drama penned by pre-Basic Instinct screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is a powerful tale of family identity and loyalty threatened by a ghost from the Third Reich. Jessica Lange stars as a Chicago criminal attorney whose beloved immigrant father (Armin Mueller-Stahl, in his American film debut) is accused of once having been a monstrous SS officer for Hitler. While Lange's character does a good job defending the old man in court against witnesses who charge him with numerous unspeakable acts, her own certainty that he is innocent slowly crumbles, leaving her with a horrifying personal dilemma. Directed by Costa-Gavras (Z), the film displays some of his distracting tendency toward unnecessarily broad storytelling, but Eszterhas's script is disciplined and moving, and Lange and Mueller-Stahl are stunning in their depiction of a loving relationship deeply shaken by history.

Academy Awards

The Music Box received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role (Jessica Lange).

Share Your Memories!

Is The Music Box one of your favorite movies? What do you remember about it? Share your stories (or your reviews) with the world! (We print the best stories right here!)