Great Courtroom Movies - Part 2
Posted on 1 Mar 00:00
Courtroom movies rarely disappoint. In this article, there are seven examples of the best courtroom movies every produced.
Plot: David Mamet wrote the film based on the novel 'The Verdict' written by Barry Reed. In the film, Stanley Lumet depicts a lawyer who is an alcoholic who takes on a negligence case against powerful attorney.
Director: Stanley Lumet.
Main Cast: the principal cast includes Paul Newman (as Frank Galvin), Charlotte Rampling (as Laura Fischer), Jack Warden (as Mickey Morrissey), James Mason (as Ed Concannon), and Milo O'Shea (as Judge Hoyle).
Commercial Performance: 'The Verdict' did well commercially. It was produced on a budget of $16 million. It grossed more than three times that figure, $54 million.
Awards and Nominations: The Academy Awards nominated the film for five awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (James Mason), Best Director (Sidney Lumet), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Newman), and Best Adapted Screenplay (David Mamet). The film won the David di Donatello Awards of 1983 for David Best Foreign Actor (Migliore Attore Straniero), received by Paul Newman. The Golden Awards nominated the film for five awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director - Motion Picture (Sidney Lumet), Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Paul Newman), Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (James Mason), and Best Screenplay - Motion Picture (David Mamet). The movie also won two National Board of Reviews Awards for Top Ten Films and Best Director (Stanley Lumet).
Plot: 'A Few Good Men' was written for Aaron Sorkin from his 1989 play entitled 'A Few Good Men'. The movie is about a court-martial that involves two marine officials who face allegations of killing a fellow marine official.
Director: Rob Reiner.
Main Cast: 'A Few Good Men' has a large cast that includes Tom Cruise as (Lieutenant, the junior grade officer Daniel Kaffee, USN, JAG Corps), Jack Nicholson (as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, USMC), Demi Moore (as Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway, USN, JAG Corps), Kevin Bacon (as Captain Jack Ross, USMC, Judge Advocate Division), and Kiefer Sutherland (as First Lieutenant Jonathan James Kendrick, USMC).
Commercial Performance: 'A Few Good Men' movie is among the highest-grossing courtroom movies of all time. The production team spent $33-$40 million in production costs. The movie grossed $243.3 million.
Awards and Nominations: 'Many organizations honored 'A Few Good Men' for its great performances and production. It received four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Film Editing (Robert Leighton), and Best Sound Mixing (Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, and Robert Eber). The Golden Globe Awards also recognized the movie’s performance and nominated it for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Rob Reiner), Best Actor (Tom Cruise), Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), and Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). The film did not escape the notice by the American Film Institute, which recognized the movie in the following lists; 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: Colonel Nathan R., 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: Col. Nathan Jessup: ‘You can’t handle the truth,’ and 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: #5 Courtroom Drama Film.
3) A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Plot: Robert Bolt adapted the movie from his 1960 play entitled 'A Man for All Seasons'. The film depicts Thomas More as he refuses to support King Henry the VIII when the king opposes the Roman Catholic Church. It begins when More stands on his feet and refuses to pressure the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from pronouncing the king and his Spanish-born wife’s marriage to be annulled. The tension at the royal court increases following this action.
Director: Fred Zinnemann.
Main Cast: This film’s principal cast includes Paul Scofield (as Sir Thomas More), Wendy Hiller (as Alice More), Leo McKern (as Thomas Cromwell), Orson Welles (as Cardinal Wolsey), and Robert Shaw (as Henry VIII).
Commercial Performance: This movie grossed $28.4m on a budget of $2 million.
Awards and Nominations: A Man of All Seasons movie received many awards and nominations. It won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture (Fred Zinnemann), Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), and Best Actor (Paul Scofield). The Academy Awards also nominated the film for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Shaw) and Best Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller). The British Academy Films nominated the movie for eight awards, including Best Film from any Source (Fred Zinnemann), Best British Film, Best British Actor (Paul Scofield), and Best British Screenplay (Robert Bolt). The film won all the awards.
Plot: Director, Robert Benton directed this film based on Avery Corman’s 1977 novel, 'Kramer vs. Kramer'. The movie is about a couple that divorce and how their divorce affects the son they had together. The film also chronicles how the couple moves on with their lives and their different parenting perspectives.
Director: Robert Benson.
Main Cast: 'Kramer vs. Kramer' principal cast includes Dustin Hoffman (as Ted Kramer), Meryl Streep (as Joanna (Stern) Kramer), Justin Henry (as Billy Kramer), Jane Alexander (as Margaret Phelps), and Petra King (as Petie Phelps).
Commercial Performance: This movie is one of the highest-grossing films every produced. It's budget was $8 million. The film grossed $173 million.
Awards and Nominations: Kramer vs. Kramer courtroom film won several awards. The Academy Awards awarded the film five awards, including Best Picture (Stanley R. Jaffe), Best Director (Robert Benton), and Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman). Robert Benton won the Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. David di Donatello Awards also gave the movie three awards for Best Foreign Film (Robert Benton), Best Foreign Actor (Dustin Hoffman), and Special David (Justin Henry).
5) In the Name of the Father (1993)
Plot: Director, Jim Sheridan explores the case of the Guildford Four. The film depicts a miscarriage in justice in that four men are wrongly convicted for the Guildford bomb killings. This killing claimed the lives of four British soldiers on off-duty and a civilian and the Guildford Four are the immediate suspects.
Director: Jim Sheridan.
Main Cast: This film’s principal cast includes Daniel Day-Lewis (as Gerry Conlon), Pete Postlethwaite (as Patrick ‘Giuseppe’ Conlon), Emma Thompson (as Gareth Peirce), John Lynch (as Paul Hill), and Corin Redgrave (as Inspector Robert Dixon).
Commercial Performance: This movie grossed $65.8 million on a budget of $13 million.
Awards and Nominations: The Australia Film Institute Awards nominated the movie for Best Foreign Film. The Academy Awards also nominated the movie for several awards, including Best Picture (Jim Sheridan), Best Director (Jim Sheridan), Best Adapted Screenplay (Terry George), and Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis). Jim Sheridan won the Golden Bear Award during the Berlin International Film Festival, while the BSFC Award gave Daniel Day-Lewis the Best Actor Award.
Plot: This film’s setting is the Pacific Theatre of World War II. It’s a portrayal of the fictional U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper that happens onboard and how later, its executive officer faces court-martial for mutiny. This happens after the vessel, the Caine, receives a new ensign and a new captain. The team eventual begin to see that the captain is incompetent resulting in a mutiny and the executive officer and team facing trial for mutiny.
Director: Edward Dmytryk.
Main Cast: This film’s main cast includes Humphrey Bogart (as LCDR. Philip Francis Queeg, the new captain), José Ferrer (as LT. Barney Greenwald), Van Johnson (as LT. Steve Maryk), and Fred MacMurray (as LT. Tom Keefer).
Commercial Performance: This film grossed $21.8 million on a budget of $2 million.
Awards and Nominations: This film received several nominations during the 27th Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Actor, Best Sound Recording, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Dramatic Score (Max Steiner), but won none of these. Dmytryk, the movie’s director received a nomination for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
Plot: 'Close-Up' features the theme of human identity. It portrays the real life case in which a man impersonates the filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The impersonator manages to con a family by hoaxing them into believing that they will be included in the man’s new film. The film includes interviews with the people involved.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami.
Main Cast: 'Close-Up' principal cast includes Hossain Sabzian (as Himself), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (as Himself), Abbas Kiarostami (as Himself), and Abolfazl Ahankhah (as Himself).
Commercial Performance: No information available.
Awards and Nominations: In 1990 during the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and Video, the film won the Quebec Film Critics Award. Later in 1992, Close-Up won the FIPRESCI Prize during the International Istanbul Film Festival.
Movie Buffs Forever stocks classic movies on DVD from the 1940's to the early 2000's. Browse our vast collection of old, rare and out of print classic movies on DVD.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Why We Still Love DVDs