True Believer is a 1989 courtroom drama directed by Joseph Ruben and released by Columbia Pictures. The film stars James Woods as burnt-out attorney Eddie Dodd, who has left behind civil rights work to defend drug dealers. Robert Downey Jr. plays Roger Baron, an idealistic young legal clerk fresh out of law school who encourages Dodd to take on the case of Shu Kai Kim, a young Korean man, played by Yuji Okumoto, who has been imprisoned for a gang-related murder. Kim's mother believes her son was wrongfully accused. Dodd and Baron's investigation leads to a conspiracy among the district... attorney, a police informant, and several police officers. The film is loosely based on an investigative series of articles written by Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist K. W. Lee on the conviction of immigrant Chol Soo Lee for a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder. The news coverage led to a new trial, eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from San Quentin's Death Row. Screenwriter Wesley Strick based the character of Eddie Dodd on real-life Bay Area defense attorney Tony Serra. Strick's screenplay was nominated for a 1990 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Motion Picture.
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| Release date: | 1989 |
| Directed by: | Joseph Ruben |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 108 Minutes |
| Producer: | Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes |
| Music by: | Brad Fiedel |
| Screenplay by: | Wesley Strick |
| Genre: | Thriller |