# Misconduct (film)
**Misconduct** is a 2016 American legal thriller directed by Shintaro Shimosawa in his feature directorial debut, written by Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, and starring [Josh Duhamel](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-duhamel), Anthony Hopkins, and [Al Pacino](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-pacino). The plot follows an ambitious young lawyer who builds a class-action case against a corrupt pharmaceutical executive using files stolen by his ex-girlfriend, and then finds himself entangled in kidnapping and murder.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/) Released in a limited theatrical run on February 5, 2016 by Lionsgate Premiere, the film was critically panned, holding a 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 24 on Metacritic.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Shintaro Shimosawa (directorial debut); screenplay by Adam Mason and Simon Boyes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/) |
| Lead cast | Josh Duhamel (Ben Cahill), Anthony Hopkins (Arthur Denning), Al Pacino (Charles Abrams), Malin Akerman (Emily Hynes), Alice Eve (Charlotte Cahill)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release February 5, 2016; streaming and home video April 19, 2016; distributed by Lionsgate Premiere[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) |
| Format | 106 minutes; rated R for sexuality/nudity, language, and violence; English language[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) |
| Original title | *Beyond Deceit*, changed before release; according to SensaCine, because it was thought to sound too similar to *Beyond Da Sea*[4](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-243168/) |
| Critical scores | 7% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (27 reviews) and 22% on the Popcornmeter; Metascore 24 on Metacritic; 5.3/10 on IMDb from about 19,000 votes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/) • [5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/misconduct-2016) |
| Setting | New Orleans[6](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/film/misconduct/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Arthur Denning ([Anthony Hopkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-hopkins)) owns a major pharmaceutical company and is controlling toward his girlfriend, Emily Hynes ([Malin Akerman](https://www.edgepedia.org/malin-akerman)), who fears his security guards. Emily once dated Ben Cahill (Josh Duhamel), an ambitious young lawyer at a large firm, and she brings him files she has taken from Denning's laptop that point to criminal behavior during the company's drug trials. Ben pitches a class-action lawsuit against Denning to Charles Abrams (Al Pacino), the senior partner at his firm, and the suit is filed.[5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/misconduct-2016) • [7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/misconduct/115676/)
Emily is then abducted, and Denning receives photographs of her bruised face along with a demand that he bring money to an art gallery. Denning goes there and attacks a man who approaches him, learning afterward that the man is the gallery's owner.[5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/misconduct-2016) The film's narrative opens with this kidnapping sequence before a title card reading "One Week Earlier" shifts the story to a flashback structure centered on Ben.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/misconduct-2016)
Ben's home life centers on his wife Charlotte ([Alice Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-eve)), a nurse still suffering after the loss of an unborn child, and the plot also involves a mysterious motorcycle-riding man with a wasting illness who menaces much of the cast. Ben, who obtained the incriminating emails illegally, concocts a scheme to bring Denning down with them.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/misconduct-2016) As bodies pile up, Ben realizes he is in over his head.[7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/misconduct/115676/)
## Cast
- Josh Duhamel as Ben Cahill[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- Anthony Hopkins as Arthur Denning[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- Al Pacino as Charles Abrams[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- Malin Akerman as Emily Hynes[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- Alice Eve as Charlotte Cahill[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- [Lee Byung-hun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-byung-hun) as The Accountant[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
- [Julia Stiles](https://www.edgepedia.org/julia-stiles) as Jane Clemente, a hostage-negotiation expert[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/misconduct-2016)
- [Glen Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/glen-powell) as Doug Fields[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
## Production and release
The film was produced by Ellen S. Wander through Mike and Marty Productions and distributed by Lionsgate Premiere.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) It was shot in New Orleans, with the Louisiana Film Office among those thanked in the credits.[6](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/film/misconduct/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/) Its working title was *Beyond Deceit*; according to the French-language film database SensaCine, the title was changed because it was thought to sound too close to *Beyond Da Sea*.[4](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-243168/)
**Distribution.** Misconduct opened in a limited theatrical release on February 5, 2016 and moved to streaming and home video on April 19, 2016.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) A Village Voice review noted that the film was "getting kicked to the curb by its distributor," describing a minimal release for a thriller carrying two Oscar-winning leads.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/) In the United Kingdom, where it opened in cinemas in April 2016, an Irish entertainment site reported it sitting at 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and being called one of the worst films of the year.[9](https://www2-direct.entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/would-you-like-to-guess-anthony-hopkins-and-al-pacinos-film-made-at-the-uk-box-office-234633/)
## Reception
The film received broadly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 7% Tomatometer based on 27 critic reviews, with an audience Popcornmeter score of 22% from more than 1,000 ratings; on Metacritic it has a Metascore of 24, classified as "generally unfavorable," with 6 of 10 counted reviews negative, 3 mixed, and 1 positive.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/) IMDb users have rated it 5.3 out of 10 from about 19,000 votes.[5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/misconduct-2016)
**Critics' verdicts.** Tim Robey of *The Daily Telegraph* gave it 1/5, writing that "it may actually be the worst film either Anthony Hopkins or Al Pacino have ever starred in," and Wendy Ide of *The Observer* called it "so hilariously inept that it's almost worth watching."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) Benjamin Lee of *The Guardian* gave it 2/5, faulting it for cribbing from 1990s potboilers, including a last-minute twist he described as stolen from a notable film of that decade, while finding it "too lurid to be dull."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct) Glenn Kenny's review for RogerEbert.com called it a "twisty but exceptionally bone-headed" legal thriller and criticized Federico Jusid's score in one scene as kitschy.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/misconduct-2016) Stephen Holden of *The New York Times* called it "such a complete catastrophe" that he wondered how actors of Hopkins's and Pacino's stature appeared in it, and Stephen Whitty of the *New York Daily News* gave it 0.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/)
A minority of critics found entertainment value in its excess. Chuck Wilson, in the *Village Voice*, wrote that despite the distributor's minimal release, the debut feature "boasts an elegant visual style and a mystery plot with so many absurd twists that the film becomes enjoyable high melodrama."[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/) *Variety* called it "a flagrantly derivative but modestly diverting drama," and *Entertainment Weekly* described its aesthetic as "regurgitated Polanski" with a "shameless script steal" from *Presumed Innocent*.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/)
## References
1. [Misconduct, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misconduct)
2. [Misconduct (2016) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3658772/fullcredits/)
3. [Misconduct critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/misconduct/critic-reviews/)
4. [Misconduct, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-243168/)
5. [Misconduct (2016) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/misconduct-2016)
6. [Misconduct review, Videolibrarian](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/film/misconduct/)
7. [Misconduct plot and synopsis, Tribute Movies](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/misconduct/115676/)
8. [Misconduct movie review and film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/misconduct-2016)
9. [Would you like to guess Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino's film made at the UK box office?, Entertainment.ie](https://www2-direct.entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/would-you-like-to-guess-anthony-hopkins-and-al-pacinos-film-made-at-the-uk-box-office-234633/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*
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