Lawyer Movies

• The Accused (1988). Starring: Kelly McGillis, Jody Foster. Courtroom drama involving rape victim Sarah Tobias (played by Jody Foster) who at times seems to be the one on trial. Read Roger Ebert's review (3 stars).
• All the President's Men (1976). Starring Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman. The dramatization of Woodward and Bernstein's journalistic investigations of the Watergate scandal. See U.S. v. Nixon (1974) 418 US 683 for litigation relating to the Watergate scandal. Read online reviews.
• Anatomy of a Murder (1959). Starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, directed by Otto Preminger. A courtroom drama involving a murder trial where the accused, a lieutenant in the army, is charged with murdering a bar owner who had raped his wife. Will the defence of temporary insanity prevail? Multiple Academy Award nominations. Read an online review.
• And Justice for All (1979). Starring Al Pacino, directed by Norman Jewison (a University of Toronto graduate). Al Pacino defends a judge who is charged with rape, a judge with whom he has had run-ins in the past. A good examination of the justice system, corruption and legal ethics. Read James Berardinelli's review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
• Billy Budd (1962). Starring Peter Ustinov, Terence Stamp. The story, based on Melville's novel, of Billy Budd, accused of mutiny on the high seas of the murder of the ship's Master-of-Arms. Read an online review.
• Breaker Morant (1980). Starring Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson. An excellent Australian court-martial movie set in the time of the Boer War. Three Australian lieutenants are treated as scapegoats when prosecuted for executing prisoners of war. Strong performance by their defence lawyer. Read an online review.
• Capturing the Friedmans (2003). Directed by Andrew Jarecki. A captivating documentary of a high school teacher, his wife and their three sons and their involvement in the criminal justice system when the father and youngest son are charged with sexual crimes involving children. The movie's tagline - "Who do you believe?" - is reflected in the questions raised by the director regarding the prosecution and defence of the accessed. Read Roger Ebert's online review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
• The Castle (1997). Starring Michael Caton. An extremely hilarious Australian comedy dealing with, of all things, expropriation (hence the title, which stems from the saying "A man's home is his castle"). Some hilarious courtroom scenes. Laugh-out-loud funny. See Roger Ebert's review (3 out of 4 stars).
• The Chamber (1996). Starring Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway. Based on John Grisham's novel, the story of a young lawyer who defends his racist grandfather who is on death row for murdering two Jewish boys. Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars).
• A Civil Action (1998). Starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall. A well told story based on Jonathan Harr's book of a true story involving a class action lawsuit against environmental polluters that involves multiple ups and downs including the potential bankruptcy of the lawyer (played by John Travolta) handling the case. Read Roger Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
• Class Action (1991). Starring Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. An unlikely scenario where father and daughter act on opposite sides on a products liability case involving cars that explode. He is the liberal plaintiff's lawyer, representing the underdog, she is a corporate type, acting for the defendant. Read Roger Ebert's review (3 out of 4 stars).
• The Client (1994). Starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Based on the John Grisham novel, tells the story of a young boy who is a witness to some Mob action and secrets and who therefore seeks out a lawyer to help protect him from the Mob and the FBI. Read Roger Ebert's review (2.5 stars out of 4).
• A Cry in the Dark (1988). Starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill. Based on the true story of an Australian mother who is charged for the murder of her daughter despite her claim that a dingo stole her baby from their tent. Read Roger Ebert's review (3 out of 4 stars).
• Dead Man Walking (1995). Starring Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn. A well told story of a nun (played by Susan Sarandon) who visits and cares for a prisoner on death row (played by Sean Penn). The movie raises important questions about the ethics of the death penalty versus the impact of crime on victims and their families and spirituality and forgiveness. Read Roger Ebert's review (4 out of 4 stars).
• Defending Your Life (1991). Starring Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep. Only marginally law-related, this comedy is the story of Daniel Miller who, after being killed in a car accident, must "defend" his life before a tribunal in Judgment City, a sort of waiting room for the afterlife. Read Roger Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars). 
• Devil's Advocate (1997). Starring Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves. A fairly stupid story of Keanu Reeves, as a young, successful lawyer who loses his soul and gets recruited by a major New York law firm headed by the "devilish" Al Pacino. Read Roger Ebert's review (2.5 out of 4 stars).
• Diva (1981). Only marginally law-related. I decided to include this movie since it was included in the University of Chicago Law School Film Festival, presumably because of the copyright issues raised by bootleg concert tapes. The movie tells the story of a young man who makes a bootleg recording of an elusive opera singer. His tape gets mixed up with a surveillance tape and he is chased through the streets of Paris on his motor-scooter with some of the best chase scenes ever. Very art-filmish in its look and feel. Read an online review.
• Dracula 2000 (2000). Starring Christopher Plummer. This is obviously not a law-related movie. Nor is it a very good movie but a number of the scenes were shot in the fireplace room in the Flavelle Building at our law school. Check it out.
• Eight Men Out (1988). Cast of many, directed by John Sayles. Tells the true story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox players who took bribes to lose the World Series. Involves court room scenes. Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars).
• Erin Brockovich (2000). Starring Julia Roberts, Albert Finney. Tells the now well known story of Erin Brockovich, the legal assistant who starts to unearth environmental contamination by a large utility company. Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars).
• A Few Good Men (1992). Starring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, many others. Tom Cruise plays a Navy lawyer charged with the duty of defending two Marines charged with murder who say they were acting under orders of a colonel (played by Jack Nicholson). Good court room and trial prep scenes. Read Roger Ebert's review (2.5 stars out of 4).
• The Firm (1993). Starring Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman. Based on the John Grisham novel, tells the story of a young lawyer (played by Tom Cruise), recruited by a high-powered firm that has hidden secrets that the young lawyer starts to uncover. Read Roger Ebert's review (3 out of 4 stars).
• A Fish Called Wanda (1998). Starring John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Eric Idle and Jamie Lee Curtis. A hilarious movie in which John Cleese plays a barrister who gets tangled up with a group of bungling diamond thieves. Extremely funny. Only marginally law related but the funny scenes with Cleese getting caught dancing in the buff are worth it. Read Roger Ebert's review (4 out of 4 stars).
• Gandhi (1982). Starring Ben Kingsley and a cast of thousands. Directed by Richard Attenborough. An epic story of the life of Mahatma Gandhi who started as a lawyer in South Africa and who end up liberating India from British domination through his policies of non-violence. 
• The Hurricane (1999). Starring Denzel Washington. Directed by Norman Jewison. Tells the true story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's wrongful imprisonment on murder charges and the efforts made by his lawyers to free him from prison. Read Roger Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars). Carter is an Executive Director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, an organization based, in part, out of Toronto.
• I Am Sam (2001). Starring Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer. A nicely told story of a child custody case involving Sean Penn, as the father, who has the mental capacity of a 7-year old. When is 7-year old daughter is taken by child welfare authorities, he hires a lawyer (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) to act on his behalf. Some good courtroom scenes. Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars).
• Incident at Oglala (1992). A documentary narrated by Robert Redford and directed by Roger Apted. Tells the story of Leonard Pelletier who was, some say, wrongfully convicted of the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Read Roger Ebert's review (3 out of 4 stars).
• Inherit the Wind (1960). Starring Spencer Tracy, Frederic March. Loosely based on the true story of the 1925 "Scopes monkey trial" involving the prosecution of a teacher for teaching Darwin's theories of evolution. Read an online review.
• Jagged Edge (1985). Starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges. A fairly absurd murder mystery / trial movie in which the defence lawyer (played by Close) start to fall in love with her client (played by Bridges), who is accused of murdering his wealthy wife. Read Roger Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
• JFK (1991). Starring Kevin Costner and a cast of thousands. Director Oliver Stone's recounting of John F. Kennedy's assassination focusing on the efforts of New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison's attempts to prosecute the real killers of JFK. Some nice courtroom scenes. Read Roger Ebert's review (4 out of 4 stars).
• Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster. A strong dramatization of the Nazi war crime trials. Maximilian Schell won the Oscar for his portrayal of the defence lawyer.
• The Juror (1996). Starring Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin. A fairly stupid movie in which a juror, played by Moore, is put under pressure by the Alec Baldwin character to acquit the accused, a Mafiosi, or else her son will come into harm's way. A strong performance by James Gandolfini (who plays Tony Soprano on The Sopranos. Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars).
• Just Cause (1995). Starring Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne. The story of a young man accused of murder and facing the electric chair. Can Law Professor Paul Armstrong (played by Sean Connery) save his client? Read Roger Ebert's review (2 out of 4 stars)
• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep. A well-told child custody case in which the characters played by the two lead actors are involved in emotional litigation over who will get custody of their young son. The movie cleaned up at the Academy Awards. Read an online review.
• Legal Eagles (1986). Starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Darryl Hannah. A prosecutor (played by Redford) starts to fall for a defence lawyer (played by Winger) and gets involved with her defence of an off-the-wall performance artist (planned by Hannah). Read Roger Ebert's review (2.5 out of 4 stars).

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• Lawyer Movies and Courtroom Drama