Directed by Costa-Gavras, who helmed the Oscar-nominated film MISSING (1982), starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, MUSIC BOX is the tale of Ann Talbot (Jessica Lange, in an Oscar-nominated performance), a Chicago criminal lawyer who finds herself in difficult circumstances, when her father Mike Laszlo (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is sent papers pertaining to him allegedly lying on his application for US Citizenship after the Second World War.
Prosecutor Jack Burke (Frederic Forrest) is so convinced of Laszlo’s guilt, but Talbot decides to take on the case and help her father. However, some deeper secrets about her father’s past and the truth behind her own relationship with him begin to surface as the case progresses in court.
Written by Joe Eszterhas, who wrote BASIC INSTINCT and the cult film SHOWGIRLS, MUSIC BOX is a meaningful and perceptive drama about the nature of family relationships and the history that we all hold onto in terms of memory and legacy. Thanks in part to Jessica Lange’s emotive and stirring performance as the resilient daughter who is out to defend her father’s honour in light of her own strong bonds, coupled with the relationship he cultivates and maintains with his grandson, Mikey (Lukas Haas, WITNESS), the film is elevated above the standard courtroom drama with these additional depths and insights of characterisation.
It’s a movie that remains potent today with the world as it is and reminds us that everyone has their own history and legacy to preserve, ensuring that the future is assured for all involved within.