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Movie - ...And Justice For All
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Year: 1979 Rated: R Parental Rating: Objectionable for children Country Of Origin: U.S. Running Time: 120 Format: Color Genre(s): Drama Production: Columbia Released By: Columbia Contrived escapades of a young and idealistic lawyer, Pacino, who sees his clients abused and wrongly punished by a judicial system gone haywire. A transvestite client who cannot tolerate prison hangs himself; another young man is sent to prison for a series of abuses that stem from a broken taillight on his car (he is eventually shot to death while attempting to break prison despite Pacino's whining pleas to surrender). The lawyer's only friend is a wacko judge, Warden, who restores order in his court by firing his automatic into the ceiling, spends his lunch hours perched on a high window ledge of the courthouse, and entertains himself by flying about crazily in a helicopter, crashing one and almost killing himself and Pacino, his terrified passenger. Pacino is subsequently asked to defend Forsythe, a venal, self-righteous judge he hates and who hates him. Forsythe is accused of sadistically raping and beating a young woman. He selects Pacino to defend him because he believes the altruistic lawyer will do his utmost to save a person he dislikes out of pure principle (which is about as realistic and reasonable as staring into the sun to improve one's vision). Pacino undertakes to undo the judge, gathering overwhelming evidence against him. Then, in what is supposed to be the dramatic climax, he attacks his client in court with such venomous zeal that he is literally dragged from the courtroom screaming, "I'm gonna get him!" No character development, ridiculous situations, and a miserably written script attempting to indict corrupt legal and judicial systems add up to a tiresome and pointless film where Pacino is wasted as a witness to a parade of lunatics. The pity is that a truly important film could have been made to demonstrate the condescending and selfish caste system that the legal field has sadly become. Instead, we get this cartoon that comfortably profiles only those lawyers and jurists too bizarre to be realistically accepted as representative of a mistrusted profession. The Academy nominated Pacino for Best Actor (he lost to Dustin Hoffman for KRAMER VS. KRAMER) and Curtin & Levinson for their screenplay, needless to say they didn't win. |
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Cast Al Pacino: Arthur Kirkland Charlie Abrahams: Judge Rayford John Forsythe: Judge Fleming Lee Strasberg: Grandpa Sam Jeffrey Tambor: Jay Porter Christine Lahti: Gail Packer Sam Levene: Arnie Robert Christian: Ralph Agee Thomas Waites: Jeff McCullaugh Craig T. Nelson: Frank Bowers Dominic Chianese: Carl Travers Victor Arnold: Leo Fauci Vincent Beck: Officer Leary Michael Gorrin: Elderly Man Baxter Harris: Larry Joe Morton: Prison Doctor Alan North: Deputy Sheriff Thomas Quinn: Desk Clerk Kiley Beverly Sanders: Sherry Connie Sawyer: Gitel Charles Siebert: Assistant District Attorney Keene Robert Symonds: Judge Burns Keith Andes: Marvin Bates Stephen Blackmore: Robert Wenke Vasili Bogazianos: Avillar Jack Hollander: Prison Warden |
Credits Norman Jewison: Director Valerie Curtin: Writer Barry Levinson: Writer Patrick Palmer: Producer Victor J. Kemper: Cinematographer - Metrocolor John F. Burnett: Editor Dave Grusin: Musical Composer Richard MacDonald: Production Designer Peter Samish: Art Director Ruth Myers: Costumes |
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Reviews Review #1 Even after the critical success of not-your-run-of-the-mill cop series "The Shield", the subsequent success of basic cable channel, FX´s next original series "Nip/Tuck" still caught everyone by surprise when it made its debut in the Fall of 2003. By the most basic definition, "Nip/Tuck" should loosely be classified under the medical drama genre. However, as everyone soon found out, "Nip/Tuck" is definitely not your father´s "Dr. Kildare" nor is it your older sister´s "Chicago Hope". The show is a little bit unusual in the sense that it defies the broad strokes of genre classification. Drama--yes but with its dark sense of humor and unconventional twists to the murkier side of social and physical vanity, the genre lines begin to blur. The only show on television today that I can most closely compare it to is HBO´s "Six Feet Under". And that is truly an admirable comparison. In a nation that essentially idolizes beautiful people for just their looks, the old notion that plastic surgery is only for the rich and famous is presently a deeply flawed belief. And the television landscape is changing rapidly to express that view. With reality programs like "Extreme Makeover", access to plastic surgery is now wide open to just about anyone who can afford it. It used to be that a little nip and a little tuck would often suffice but nowadays you can change almost anything that you don´t like about yourself. While "Nip/Tuck" can mistakenly be seen as glamorizing cosmetic procedures like face-lifts, rhinoplasty or breast augmentation, there is definitely more to it than meets the eye. Surprisingly, unlike the superficial art of vanity that the show so openly embraces, it is neither shallow nor is it shameless. Dive below the superficial surface and you will find intriguing stories that never cease to surprise me in just about every episode of the show. Tales of human frailty and deep insecurities provide plenty of fodder for the show´s writers but to be able to weave all that into the very fabric of the show´s main characters´ lives is an art that "Nip/Tuck", like many other good television shows, does very well. Instead of suffering a sophomore slump, series creator Ryan Murphy has craftily guided the show through even more uncharted waters in the second season, producing yet another truly imaginative effort throughout the season´s sixteen episodes, turning almost every television clich? onto its head. Thinking outside the box may not even be an accurate enough phrase to describe "Nip/Tuck". As good as it may be however, at times, the show has the propensity to devolve into a kind of outlandish soap opera mess but fortunately, those moments are too far and few in between to leave any lasting bad impressions. "Nip/Tuck" delves into the lives of two Miami, FL plastic surgeons, Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) who are partners in a highly successful practice. In the first season of the show, the focus was on how both men´s attitude towards their practice developed and changed in time as they go through various trials and tribulations in their own personal lives. As skilled as they both are, Sean and Christian are direct polar opposites of one another. While Sean is a dedicated family man with two children, Christian is one of Miami´s most eligible bachelors, proving that good looks and wealth do get you into many beds. As you can imagine, both men harbor vastly different philosophies when it comes to their chosen profession. For Christian, it is all about making money and meeting beautiful women, many of whom he has helped sculpted through plastic surgery. Sean takes a more pragmatic approach to his talent, preferring to see it as an avenue for him to reach out and help unfortunate people with disfigurements and other medical conditions to lead normal lives. A compromise was reached--Sean can continue with his pro bono work on the condition that they still have to take on other non-essential enhancement surgeries in order to pay the bills--but other pressing problems remain, like Sean´s deteriorating relationship with his own family, especially his jaded wife Julia (Joely Richardson) and rebellious son Matt (John Hensley) and the news that Gina (Jessalyn Gilsig), one of Christian´s many one night stands and a recovering sexaholic, is pregnant. The first season culminated in a satisfying finale that ties up most of the loose ends, a rare occurrence in a television landscape flushed with clever cliffhangers. Not so with Season Two as it opens rather innocently with Sean worrying about his own looks as he hits the big 4-0 milestone. Besides battling the inevitability of aging, Sean discovers that he has developed the "yips", a term used to describe his unsteady hand, which is a big no-no, especially in his line of work. Sean´s marriage is also in big trouble as Julia discovers Sean´s infidelity from the last season and she goes through her a period of depression and anger. Christian has a whole new set of problems with the abusive and demanding Gina, whom he thought was carrying his baby but later found that Baby Wilbur is clearly not his. One would think that Christian would be jumping for joy right about now but instead, we see him slowly getting attached to Wilbur, longing to be the father that he never had. However, an even bigger surprise awaits Christian as Julia finally finds the courage to reveal a dark secret to him that threatens to unravel everything that all of them have achieved so far in their lives. == |
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