Category: Review

Honestly, Primal Fear (1996) is always going to be remembered as the film where Edward Norton announced his arrival onto the Hollywood scene with authority. As for the movie, there’s a special kind of courtroom thriller that exists in the sweet spot between pulp and prestige — the kind where you know you’re being manipulated,  … Read more

For a movie about demonic possession, The Exorcism of Emily Rose spends a surprising amount of time in a courtroom — and that’s what makes this tale a little more fascinating than your typical spooky season demon flick. Director Scott Derrickson (years before digging into The Black Bag) blends supernatural horror with legal drama, forcing  … Read more

Filmmaker Joel Schumacher’s over-the-top courtroom drama, A Time to Kill, probably won’t be remembered as the most subtle courtroom drama of the 1990s — and there were a lot of them — but it remains one of the more riveting, thanks to a powerful performance from the man himself, Samuel L. Jackson. Adapted from John  … Read more

Let’s be honest, Clint Eastwood deserved better. Juror #2, his swan song at the staggering age of 94, should have been treated like an event, a legacy capstone for one of Hollywood’s last true icons. Instead, Warner Bros. and HBO quietly slipped it onto HBOMAX or MAX or whatever it was called when it was  … Read more

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker, adapted from John Grisham’s novel, is a classic underdog legal drama. Matt Damon stars as Rudy Baylor, a fresh law school graduate with no connections and no experience, thrust into a David vs. Goliath courtroom battle against a massive insurance company. While the film delivers solid drama and memorable performances,  … Read more

MY COUSIN VINNY REMAINS A CLASSIC AND A NEAR LEGAL MASTERPIECE   If you’re looking for a legal drama that accurately portrays the intricacies of criminal procedure and evidentiary rules, My Cousin Vinny might not be entirely accurate. But this wildly entertaining courtroom comedy somehow manages to be both ridiculously fun and seemingly (and surprisingly)  … Read more

If you love your courtroom dramas with extra cheese, oh boy, do I have a blast from the past for you. Back in 1992, when A Few Good Men was released, I feel like I thought it was sure-fire Oscar bait. Now it plays like a radio drama at best. Fun to watch, yes. But  … Read more