Based on Ludovic Kennedy's book The Airman and the Carpenter, this is a sometimes laboured but still never less than absorbing account of a true-life kidnap case, which took place in Thirties America. After the young son of pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh is snatched and murdered, the public outcry is so great that the authorities are determined to send a suspect - German immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann - to the electric chair, even if it means fabricating evidence. Stephen Rea gives one of his best performances as the hapless Hauptmann, and a good cast (Isabella Rossellini, JT Walsh, David Paymer, Michael Moriarty) ensures that some strongly dramatic moments still emerge, despite the heavy-handed treatment of director Mark Rydell.

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