I first saw this truly startling mid-80's made-for-TV favorite in health class when I was in 17 in high school. It truly unnerved the hell out of me. The teacher would occasionally stop the film and make all the students discuss what they just saw with utmost seriousness. It's an experience I'll always treasure as a truly special and unique adolescent memory. Richard Crenna deservedly won an Emmy for his exceptionally brave performance. Nicholas Worth and M.C. Gainey are positively terrifying as the two brutish homosexual hooligans who sodomize Crenna. The single most scary moment occurs when Worth holds a knife to Crenna's throat and venomously snarls to Gainey,"You ever go pig-hunting Sonny -- they squeal when ya stab 'em!" Yikes! This was pretty heavy and hard-sitting stuff for me to take at the time. It still upsets me today and rates highly as my second all-time favorite 80's TV movie right after the equally awesome "Fallen Angel."

After a few years of fruitlessly trying to find this film, I finally won the jackpot when I found it on DVD (with the title "Deadly Justice") and at a decent price!!! I had read Video Movie guides and all of the reviews for this movie were very positive and encouraging. I knew that with the late, great Richard Crenna on board (truly deserving the Emmy he won for this performance, and he was the king of TV movies) this was a must-see.For the time, this film was quite daring (with the exception of such movies as "Deliverance") and very realistically acted. Crenna is fantastic as the chauvinistic, inconsiderate, hardened cop who believes that sexual assault victims "bring it on themselves". His attitude does not serve him well when he is re-assigned to the Sex Crimes Unit in his precinct. He cracks offensive jokes after trying to remove a nude rape victim from a phone booth who is incoherent with fear. He undergoes a transformation and an attitude adjustment after he is beaten and brutally attacked by two criminal sadists. Thankfully, because this movie was made for TV in the mid-80s, we are not exposed to the graphic details of the rape, nor are any given later on in the statements that Richard Beck makes. But, truthfully, we don't need to be shown. We know what he's gone through, as he experiences everything that rape victims face - and perhaps, because he is both a straight male and a cop - even more. He realizes that people look at him differently, especially his partners and most notably, his father. His dad cannot understand why Beck didn't do more to stop the attack, and Richard realizes, after going through the denial phase, that what happened to him was not his fault, despite what people say. He flashbacks to the assault, alienates his girlfriend, and has to answer embarrassing questions (as all sexual assault victims who report the crime do), like, has he ever had homosexual relations before? His ordeal transforms him into a more aware and sensitive individual who sees that the medieval attitudes toward rape need to change. What I thought was a nice touch was his rescuing a woman from a rapist, his ex-wife and children being the most supportive of him, going over his partner's objections of identifying his attackers, and finally, speaking to the cadets in the Police Academy, spreading awareness, concern and knowledge.It was also great to see two 80s TV moms in the same film (Meredith Birney of "Family Ties" and Joanna Kerns of "Growing Pains"). Pat Hingle was great as Beck's father, and Frances Lee McCain was compassionate as Beck's ex-wife. But the biggest honors go to Crenna, for his realistic and excellent portrayal. His talent and presence is, and will continue to be greatly missed, but his impact will live on. I highly recommend this film. You may never look at sexual assault the same way again. RIP Richard.

This TVM features rape as the dramatic centre point but there`s a difference in that the victim is a middle aged streetwise cop who is MALE . The crime itself is thankfully understated ( This is a TVM after all ) and the teleplay revolves around the victim Richard Beck struggling to come to terms with his rape as he finds sympathy in short supply Casting Richard Crenna as Beck is a double edged sword . Crenna is best known as playing supporting roles usually as good guys and he gives a very good performance here . Unfortunately he does come over as being far too nice to be entirely convincing as a tough streetwise cop . I couldn`t help notice that the script also seems to play up to the nice guy character of Beck . We the audience are supposed to empathise with the victim but if they`d made Beck a rather more hard edged or just plain nasty and cynical character we`d have still felt sorry for him . Considering the theme is one of rape I can`t feeling the producers have made a mistake in making Beck too likable . Were they frightened that if we saw Beck give someone a few slaps now and again we would have thought he deserved to be raped in some way ? I can`t help thinking everything would have worked a bit better if there had been more in the way of " Rape victims deserved it " from a sneering cynical arrogant pre rape Richard Beck which would have made a few scenes work even better , scenes like where his police chief says " Get out of here punk " when Beck goes to pieces at the ID parade or when Beck desparately explains to his unsympathetic relative that " There was nothing I could do , they had a gun to my head " As it is THE RAPE OF RICHARD BECK is a very good TVM but probably tries a little too hard to make us empathise with the rape victim which isn`t necessary because no one deserves to be raped

A tv movie with Richard Crenna,playing a hard nosed cop who,supposedly,gets raped by two men and goes through all the drama of the after effects of the rape. Feminist wet dream of putting a tough masculine straight man in the position of a woman when handling the emotional and psycological problems brought upon them by a rape. You know a man can go through the same thing a woman can go through when they are met by any kind of violent crime,being shot,getting carjacked,being robbed at gun point,getting mugged,it is always hard on the victim no matter who it is. The Rape Of Richard Beck wants people to see men get their just deserts by having a man get raped and having this man seen as a representation of the rough masculine type who would be seen as the last person expected to suffer through a crime like this. Rape is seen as the female victim's violent crime and for a man to suffer through rape's humilation is the type of show liberal feminist Hollywood want to see in and want to present to the general public at large. Rape is hard on its'victims.Including the relatives and family members and friends of the victims,most of whom are men.The Rape Of Richard Beck is a typical example of pure tainted Hollywood liberal rot sending a terrible message to a gullible public.