veteran actor clint eastwood has never looked as grizzled as he does in true crime , his latest directorial effort . 
when steve everett ( his newest character ) gets angry at someone , he glares them down with those famous dirty harry eyes , furrows his brow and frowns like a grizzly bear who's just lost his cubs . 
eastwood has played some particularly despicable characters in his time , but everett could just take the cake . 
he gets my vote , at least , partly because `ev' is a drunken affair-a-week womanizer who has many relationship problems , very few of which are with his wife ( diane venora ) . 
when his colleague at the oakland tribune is in an ugly car wreck and dies , everett must take over for her at a vital interview session . 
the interview is with frank beacham ( isaiah washington ) , a death-row inmate set to die at midnight for the murder of a pregnant convenience store clerk . 
eastwood furrows his brow . 
as everett gradually finds information , he realizes that beacham could very well be innocent . 
he interviews a key witness ( michael jeter ) , who claims that he burst in the door at pocum's foods because his car had overheated , only to see beacham standing over the dead woman's body , blood on his suspenders , gun in hand . 
but everett protests : how could he have seen the gun , which was lowered by his side , with the potato chip rack in front of him ? 
jeter doesn't know what he's talking about . 
eastwood furrows his brow . 
crinkled expressions and all , clint is the centre of energy of true crime . 
the film is by no means a standard action/suspense yarn , but a thoughtful human story in which the characters come before the shoot-outs . 
isaiah washington has a break-out performance as frank beacham , and scenes with him and his weary wife ( lisa gay hamilton ) are truly heartfelt moments . 
but the best scenes are ones that feature eastwood duking it out with those in authority over him . 
denis leary , as everett's editor and boss , has more than a few memorable moments of restrained anger ( you see , ev is sleeping with his wife ) . 
but hands down , the most enjoyable segments of the film are when james woods is on camera . 
playing the big boss alan mann , woods and eastwood create amusing chemistry and laugh-out-loud punchlines . 
when true crime opts for a high-speed chase to the governer's house at the finale , the quality of film-making takes an abrupt nosedive . 
eastwood was so successful with colorful character portraits that he didn't need to switch lanes . 
true crime is a tension-building , intriguing drama showcase for the talented director and star . 
this is a road block he could have easily dismissed ( i furrow my brow ) . 
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