Meryl Streep found a role well-tailored to her skills of impersonation -- as well as to her rather cold onscreen persona -- with A Cry in the Dark, the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, an Australian woman who was believed to have murdered her newborn child. Director Fred Schepisi displays his usual knack for naturalism and character nuance, without shying away from the more lurid aspects of the case and its lengthy, elliptical trial. Streep appropriately keeps the audience at arm's length for much of the film, as it becomes clear that what's on trial is less the physical evidence in the case than Lindy's reserved personality. Though much of the film is set in the courtroom, Schepisi uses plenty of cutaways and diversions so as not to let the proceedings become static. The director previously teamed with Streep for 1985's Plenty.
