A 1991 American Crime Thriller written and directed by David Mamet that has a Jewish detective (Joe Mantegna) investigating a murder that soon leads him to a Zionist group.
The movie also stars William H. Macy, Ving Rhames, Natalija Nogulich, Vincent Guastaferro, JJ Johnston, Lionel Mark Smith, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, Roberta Custer, and Charles Stransky.
It was released on October 9, 1991.
Tropes for the film:
- Alliterative Name: Robert Randolph.
- Apophenia Plot: The plot is about Bobby Gold, a Jewish homicide detective who investigates the murder of an old woman who in her younger days was involved with Zionist gun-running and is drawn into the involvement with Mossad and violent attacks on neo-Nazis. The final revelation is that the murder was probably coincidental, as were all the elements that made him think it was related to politics and the old woman's past.
- Boomerang Bigot: Bobby is reluctantly drawn into the case of a murdered Jewish storekeeper (he really wants to be tracking a fugitive with his partner), and when the relatives of the murdered woman say they heard someone shooting on the roof near their place, is disinclined to believe them. Gold doesn't use any antisemitic slurs, but he does refer to the family as "you people", and when he's on the phone with his partner later (about the other case he wants to be on), he cracks about how Jews must have done something wrong to be persecuted. Unfortunately, he does this without knowing the dead woman's granddaughter is sitting behind him. Once he realizes this, and after she tears him a new one for his attitude, Gold does a Heel–Face Turn, becomes dedicated to solving the murder, and treats it as a hate crime. Unfortunately, he was wrong about that - it was a simple robbery gone wrong - and because he wouldn't supply a crucial piece of information to the people trying to help the family, he gets shunned by them as well.
- One-Word Title: Homicide.
- Tagline: "Powerful. Provocative. Controversial".
