TV Reviews : ‘Guilty’ a Triumphant True-Life Tale

A prize performance by Brendan Fraser as Martin Sheen’s rebellious jailbird son propels the true-life family drama “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” on NBC (at 9 p.m. Sunday on Channels 4, 36 and 39).

There’s a reason for the sardonic title. This story about the false murder conviction of a high school dropout named Bobby McLaughlin made headlines in 1986 when the state of New York conceded its judicial error, freed the young man from Sing Sing after he had served seven years of grueling time, and later awarded him a precedent-setting $1.93 million for wrongful conviction.

Sheen plays a rigid, blue-collar Brooklyn father who matures from from angry distrust of his foundering son through herculean efforts to prove his innocence. As a triumphant father-son drama, subtly strengthened by the role of the family’s gritty mom (Caroline Kava), the production is a case study, a trademark in socially relevant movies for television.

Fraser makes a visceral, raw acting debut. His prison scenes quietly simmer with torment and fear. Director Paul Wendkos’ opening violence, the blurry chaos of a holdup and killing in a park, is filmed in edgy, jagged strokes that sets up the intricate plotting in Cynthia Whitcomb’s script.