Are you ready for some legal drama? Do you want to know whether the jury verdict is innocent or guilty? Do you want to see whether justice is served, or whether the legal system really isn’t worth much? Do you want to see some young attorney fire up the courtroom, and get everyone believing in his clients? Whatever the case, law related movies are usually full of action and drama.
Legal movies can be about anything pertaining to the law. Perhaps a corporation is violating safety standards with their practices and getting away with harming the people and environment of the area. Or, a military commander is allowing people to end up dead during a ‘code red.’ It just might be that a once considered ditzy blonde decides to make the law her career. You never know what kind of action or drama will turn up in a legal movie.
Here are ten must see law related movies.
1. A Few Good Men (1992). A Few Good Men will be at the top of almost anyone’s list of legal movies. Tom Cruise and Demi Moore work together to crack open a case in the military. Jack Nicholson plays Colonel Jessup who was the actual person who ordered the code red which ended up with the death of a soldier. The case is based on the trial of two of his subordinates, who are being brought to trial for the murder of this marine soldier.
2. 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a truly old classic legal movie about twelve jurors in a criminal murder trial. the jurors all just want to get the case over, and eleven of them agree to the guilt of a man for murdering his father. The one dissenting juror at first just wants to create a discussion to see if they really have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the man is guilty of the crime. As things unfold, more and more evidence points to the man not being guilty at all of the crime, or at least not beyond a reasonable doubt.
3. Runaway Jury (2003). A businessman is killed at his workplace. His widow sues the gun manufacturer, saying they are responsible for the death. The case goes to trial. During the trial, one of the jurors and his girlfriend are wanting to sway the case for their own cause. How do you stop a corrupted jury?
4. The Rainmaker (1997). Matt Damon has just passed the bar exam and become an attorney. He gets a job for an ambulance chaser, but soon finds out the law firm is corrupt. He and another attorney played by Danny DeVito team up to start their own practice. They take a case where a family has been cut off from medical insurance, and their son is unable to get an operation that he needs to save his life. They go up against the insurance company, and a big corporate attorney who is determined to show them that inexperience is not the way to win a big case.
6. The Firm (1993). The Firm is another legal thriller starring the hot actor Tom Cruise. Something about him must just say ‘attorney.’ He makes the list twice for the top ten law movies. In this legal film, Tom Cruise graduates from Harvard Law and gets an incredible offer to join a prestigious law firm. Of course, he accepts. He soon comes to find out that The Firm is up to no good, as the FBI want information from him and attorneys start dying. So what’s a young attorney to do?
7. Legally Blonde (2001. Reese Witherspoon gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘attorney’ in this film about a blonde girl who is dumped by her boyfriend because she isn’t ‘serious’ enough. Well, she’ll show him. She gets accepted to his law school, and starts proving that blondes don’t just have more fun, they also can take you down and win a legal case. This is a fun, provocative legal flick that is definitely worth seeing. Did I mention that Luke Wilson from Old School has a supporting role in this film? Don’t miss this legal flick.
8. Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). Alec Baldwin is the District Attorney in this case who decides to go forward and prosecute for a third time after two hung juries. Prosecute what, you ask? A black civil rights activist was murdered, and it is believed that the murderer wa a white supremacist. The widow of the homicide believes there is enough evidence this time to convict. This legal action film is based on a true story of the trial of the death of Medgar Evers by Byron De La Beckwith. The trial takes place thirty years after the incident! Wow, can you imagine? Byron De La Beckwith probably thought he was in the clear. I’ll bet he never saw this one coming.
9. A Time To Kill (1996). Another legal revenge flick set in Mississippi, this law movie is about a young black girl who is raped by two white men. She is then left for dead, but survives. Unfortunately, in Mississippi, there’s not much chance of a fair trial. The girl’s father takes matters into his own hands, and kills the two white men in the Courthouse. Matthew McConaughey, as Jake Brigance, decides he will take the case and defend the father, Carl Lee Hailey (played by Samuel L. Jackson). Sandra Bullock plays a law student from Massachucetts who comes down and volunteers to help Jake with the case. Soon, the KKK starts to get involved, and Jake starts getting death threats to his own family. They even burn down his house. But, he trudges on, and eventually wins the case, gaining a non-guilty verdict for his client.
10. The Devil’s Advocate (1997). I saved one of the best for last. Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron make one beautiful couple. Al Pacino approaches Keanu. He has never lost a case as a defense attorney. He gets recruited to work for Pacino. Once on board, he gets so engrossed in his work that his wife starts to feel abandoned. She starts to really lose her mind. But he doesn’t see it. Her cries for help go ignored. Keanu takes a big case. During the case, Pacino even suggests that Keanu take care of his wife, but he doesn’t. She gets admitted to a mental hospital, and kills herself there. Keanu finds out that his worst fears are realized: Pacino is his father! Worse yet, he is also the devil. Now, Keanu is sought to have a baby with his half-sister, with whom he almost had an affair on his own! Wow, talk about some legal drama and mental anguish. The moral of this movie is that greed is a deadly sin. He could have just worked at a small firm and had a happy family and his wife.
I’m sure you think I missed some. What are your favorite legal movies?
