An Innocent Man
Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a major drug dealer. Rainwood is shot, and the officers frame him as a drug dealer. Rainwood is convicted of drug dealing, based on the perjured evidence of a police informant. Thrown into a seedy jail, fighting to prove his innocence is diffucult when he has to deal with the realities of prison life, where everyone claims they were framed.
The film earned $20.0M at the global box office.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
An Innocent Man (1989) exhibits carefully calibrated dramatic framework, characteristic of Peter Yates's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 53 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.6, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Jimmie Rainwood
Kate Rainwood
Virgil Cane
Detective Mike Parnell
Detective Danny Scalise
John Fitzgerald
Main Cast & Characters
Jimmie Rainwood
Played by Tom Selleck
An honest aircraft mechanic falsely imprisoned after corrupt cops plant drugs in his home. Must survive prison and fight to clear his name.
Kate Rainwood
Played by Laila Robins
Jimmie's loyal wife who stands by him through his wrongful imprisonment and works to prove his innocence.
Virgil Cane
Played by F. Murray Abraham
A hardened prison inmate who becomes Jimmie's mentor and protector, teaching him how to survive behind bars.
Detective Mike Parnell
Played by David Rasche
A corrupt narcotics detective who frames Jimmie to cover up his own botched drug raid and killing of an innocent person.
Detective Danny Scalise
Played by Richard Young
Parnell's corrupt partner who participates in the frame-up and cover-up of their crimes.
John Fitzgerald
Played by Badja Djola
Jimmie's dedicated defense attorney who believes in his innocence and fights to overturn his conviction.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Jimmie Rainwood lives an idyllic life as a successful aerospace engineer with his wife Kate, working on his dream home and enjoying their comfortable middle-class existence.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Corrupt cops Parnell and Scalise raid the wrong house - Jimmie's home - and when he appears with a hair dryer they mistake for a gun, they shoot him and plant drugs to cover their mistake.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 28 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This illustrates the protagonist's commitment to Jimmie is convicted and enters prison, forced to leave behind his old life and identity. He makes the choice to survive by any means necessary in this new brutal world., moving from reaction to action.
At 57 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. The analysis reveals that this crucial beat Jimmie is forced to kill another inmate in self-defense, crossing a moral line. This false defeat makes his situation worse - more time added to his sentence, and he loses more of his innocent identity., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 84 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Virgil is killed protecting Jimmie, and Kate serves him with divorce papers. Jimmie loses both his mentor/friend and his wife - the death of his old life is complete., shows the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 90 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Jimmie is released from prison and discovers evidence proving the cops' corruption. He synthesizes his prison survival skills with his determination for justice, choosing to actively hunt down the corrupt cops., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
An Innocent Man's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping An Innocent Man against these established plot points, we can identify how Peter Yates utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish An Innocent Man within the crime genre.
Peter Yates's Structural Approach
Among the 8 Peter Yates films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.1, reflecting strong command of classical structure. An Innocent Man represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Peter Yates filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional crime films include The Bad Guys, Batman Forever and 12 Rounds. For more Peter Yates analyses, see Krull, The Deep and Bullitt.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Jimmie Rainwood lives an idyllic life as a successful aerospace engineer with his wife Kate, working on his dream home and enjoying their comfortable middle-class existence.
Theme
A character warns that "the system doesn't care about the truth, only what it can prove" - establishing the theme of institutional corruption versus individual justice.
Worldbuilding
Setup of Jimmie's normal world: his loving marriage to Kate, his career as an engineer, his suburban home renovation project, and the introduction of corrupt narcotics detectives Parnell and Scalise planning a drug bust.
Disruption
Corrupt cops Parnell and Scalise raid the wrong house - Jimmie's home - and when he appears with a hair dryer they mistake for a gun, they shoot him and plant drugs to cover their mistake.
Resistance
Jimmie struggles to prove his innocence through the legal system; his lawyer advises him to take a plea deal; Kate believes in him but the evidence is overwhelming; Jimmie debates fighting versus accepting the plea bargain.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Jimmie is convicted and enters prison, forced to leave behind his old life and identity. He makes the choice to survive by any means necessary in this new brutal world.
Mirror World
Jimmie meets Virgil Cane, a hardened life prisoner who becomes his mentor and teaches him the harsh realities of prison survival - representing what Jimmie must become to survive.
Premise
Jimmie's education in prison life: he learns to fight, makes alliances, navigates prison politics, and transforms from innocent engineer to hardened convict under Virgil's guidance while maintaining hope of proving his innocence.
Midpoint
Jimmie is forced to kill another inmate in self-defense, crossing a moral line. This false defeat makes his situation worse - more time added to his sentence, and he loses more of his innocent identity.
Opposition
The corrupt cops escalate their efforts to ensure Jimmie stays silent; his marriage deteriorates under the strain; prison enemies intensify their attacks; Jimmie becomes harder and more violent, losing himself.
Collapse
Virgil is killed protecting Jimmie, and Kate serves him with divorce papers. Jimmie loses both his mentor/friend and his wife - the death of his old life is complete.
Crisis
Jimmie processes the devastating losses and contemplates giving up. In his darkest moment, he must decide whether to remain a victim or take action to reclaim his life and expose the truth.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Jimmie is released from prison and discovers evidence proving the cops' corruption. He synthesizes his prison survival skills with his determination for justice, choosing to actively hunt down the corrupt cops.
Synthesis
Jimmie executes his plan for justice: he confronts the corrupt detectives, uses his prison-learned tactics to outmaneuver them, and forces a final confrontation that exposes their corruption and vindicates him.
Transformation
Jimmie, forever changed by his experience, stands vindicated but scarred. Unlike the opening image of innocent suburban comfort, he is now a harder man who has seen the darkness of the system but reclaimed his integrity.