Harper Lee Reading. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU"RE POSTING A FFB THIS WEEK.
Best Legal Movies as voted by the American Bar Association.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. 12 Angry Men
3. My Cousin Vinny
4. Anatomy of a Murder
5. Inherit the Wind
6. Witness for the Prosecution
7. Breaker Morant
8. Philadelphia
9. Erin Brockovich
10. The Verdict
11. Presumed Innocent
12. Judgment at Nuremberg
13. A Man for All Seasons
14. A Few Good Men
15. Chicago
16. Kramer vs. Kramer
17. The Paper Chase
18. Reversal of Fortune
19. Compulsion
20. And Justice for All
21. In the Name of the Father
22. A Civil Action
23. Young Mr. Lincoln
24. Amistad
25. Miracle on 34th Street
Biggest surprise for me #3. Any others you'd add?
19 comments:
I'll have an FFB, Patti.
Thanks, Bill.
They're missing a few:
THE PARADINE CASE
CLASS ACTION
GIDEON'S TRUMPET (How the hell did they miss that one?)
THE ACCUSED
NUTS
ADAM'S RIB
LEGALLY BLONDE (OK, not the most believable)
I'd have to put Primal Fear on the list somewhere. Edward Norton was brilliant in his first film and I never saw the ending coming. Norton just plays great "dual identity" roles.
I think ADAM'S RIB is a real miss, too. I think there was a longer list, this just was the top vote getters. Loved Primal Fear.
I'd add A Time to Kill. And Jacob's right about Primal Fear. I can't remember the author's name but the books Primal Fear is based on are great too.
I've read very few legal thrillers. Presumed Innocent was probably the best.
I will also have an FFB this week.
I love legal thrillers and I have to go with Jacob on Primal Fear. Runaway Jury with John Cusack and Gene Hackman wasn't one of the greatest movies, but I love those two actors and the premise was good, so I'll toss that one in for consideration. I just recently watched 12 Angry Men again and it's aged beautifully.
Thanks, Charles.
Anything with Cusak and Hackman can't be bad.
A bit of a stretch as a legal thriller but Absence Of Malice comes to mind. Haven't seen it in a few years but I remember thinking Paul Newman was great,Sally Field turned in a solid performance and Wilford Brimley damn near stole the movie with an appearance that I think lasted all of ten minutes. Guess I'll have to watch it again.
John McAuley
Haven't seen it since it was released. I remember Paul as being especially fetching.
I'll be posting one, Patti.
I don't have anything to add, but as a lawyer, Witness for the Prosecution is my #1.
I haven't seen Witness since I was a teenager. I mostly remember Marlene Dietrich on the stand.
I'm not sure that Ned Racine is a great model of the legal professional, which may explain why the film didn't make this list, but Body Heat is my own favourite. A wonderful plot and atmosphere.
Body Heat is one of those movies that mesmerized me-it just had it all.
I first saw BODY HEAT in a 95c double-feature with BLADE RUNNER...I had no idea what it was beforehand, nor did my then 9yo brother, who had also tagged along to see BLADE RUNNER. Perhaps it's notable that he later developed a crush on Darryl Hannah, while I kept an eye out for Kathleen Turner afterward.
The most obvious excellent movie which occurs to me to be missing here is PATHS OF GLORY. So very vastly better a court martial film, among other things, than A FEW GOOD MEN.
I will have a Forgotten Book for you, Patti. Pity it's not a Westlake, but happily few of his are forgotten.
I'm surprised they chose The Verdict, because the actions of the lawyer Paul Newman plays in that film are grounds for disbarment.
Stoner I don't think it has anything to DO with disbarment. I mean BODY HEAT's Ned Racine was a moron of a lawyer, so? THE VERDICT is a brilliant movie and it's about the law, the courtroom, and lawyers. I don't think the ABA was worrying about legal ethics when they made this list.
I've never seen nor ever expect to see MY COUSIN VINNY. What's it about?
And BODY HEAT fans? That was Kathleen Turner's film debut. How 'bout THAT, huh?
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