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The Onion Field

The Onion Field

Crime · Drama · 1979

An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.

Movie details

The Onion Field

“What happened in the onion field is true. But the real crime is what happened after.”

1979 Crime · Drama 2h 2m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.8 / 10

5.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

87 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

57 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Onion Field?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Harold Becker

Written by

Joseph Wambaugh

John Savage

John Savage

Karl Hettinger

James Woods

James Woods

Gregory Powell

Franklyn Seales

Franklyn Seales

Jimmy Smith

Ted Danson

Ted Danson

Ian Campbell

Ronny Cox

Ronny Cox

Pierce Brooks

David Huffman

David Huffman

District Attorney Phil Halpin

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

Jailhouse Lawyer

Court is in session

Put The Onion Field on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.