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"A to Z"
List of Law-Related Movies
Movies Organized by
Substantive Law Subject
Comedies
Court Martial Movies
Courtroom Dramas
Documentaries
Inspirational Lawyer
Movies
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Top 10
Set out below are the top
10 movies from my "A
to Z" list, as chosen by me:
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 the original New
York Times review
here. Available
here on Netflix.
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).
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. Read the New York Times
original review
here.
Let
Him Have It (1991). Based on
a true story in the early 1950's in England
where two young men are tried for and found
guilty of the murder of a policeman. One of
the young men avoids the death penalty because
of his age but the other is hanged, despite
his having the mental capacity of a young
child. Gripping courtroom scenes (based on
actual transcripts). An excellent movie. Read
Roger
Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
The
Paper Chase (1973). Starring
Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay "The Bionic Woman"
Wagner and John Houseman as Professor
Kingsfield. The now classic "must see" movie
for law students about the struggles of a
first-year law student and the battles he
faces with his contracts professor (especially
after he finds out he has been dating his
daughter). Now somewhat dated, it is still a
lot of fun to watch. Note the scenes with the
law librarian. Parts of the movie were filmed
in Toronto. Houseman won the Academy Award for
his performance. Read the original New York
Times review
here.
Rabbit-Proof
Fence (2002). Directed by Phillip
Noyce and stars Kenneth Branagh. Based on the
true story of 3 aboriginal girls
("half-castes") taken from their Aboriginal
mothers and placed in a government residential
school to be "domesticated". The movie
documents their attempts to return to their
families across the Outback, following a
rabbit-proof fence. Read Roger
Ebert's review (3.5 out of 4 stars).
Reversal
of Fortune (1990). Starring
Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver.
Based on the true life story where Harvard Law
Professor Alan Dershowitz agrees to handle the
appeal of the conviction of socialite Claus
von Bulow for the attempted murder of his
wife. Good dramatization of the work done by
Dershowitz and his students in preparing for
the appeal. Read Roger
Ebert's review (4 out of 4 stars).
To
Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
Starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. A
solid dramatization of Harper Lee's novel
telling the story of Atticus Finch and his
daughter Scout and how Atticus defends a black
man wrongfully charged with rape in a
racially-biased environment. Peck won the Best
Actor Oscar. Read the original New York
Times review
here.
The
Verdict (1982). Starring
Paul Newman, James Mason. Directed by Sidney
Lumet. A good courtroom drama involving Paul
Newman as a down-and-out lawyer who is forced
to "crash" funerals and wakes looking to drum
up business. When he takes a medical
malpractice case on a contingency basis, he
encounters a strong defence from the
defendant. Make sure to yell "objection" in a
loud voice during some of the courtroom scenes
where rules of civil procedure are ignored in
favour of dramatic tension. Read Roger Ebert's
4 star review
here. Read the original New York
Times review
here.
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