GREAT COURTROOM MOVIES – PART 9

Courtroom movies have been one of the greatest entertaining films in the industry and continue to intrigue movie buffs to date. Most of these dramas are based on real-life occurrences. Apart from quenching the thirst for entertainment, courtroom movies help impart a sense of justice in the community. Most of the issues plaguing the community can be highlighted in these films. For instance, attorneys can learn through these movies the courage and bravery needed to render justice. When injustice is condemned, many learn to abhor it. In the early 1990s, courtroom movies gained a lot of popularity. As a result, many films in this genre were produced. However, there have been assertions that the genre has recently lost popularity. Some people claim that this genre is dying. In reality, it continues to strengthen day by day. What many forget is that the definition of a courtroom movie is quite extensive. In fact, it can be said that the genre has evolved significantly in recent years. Any movie with justice as a central theme falls in this genre. The following are some of the Great Courtroom Movies.

True Believer 1989

The plot of this movie revolves around lawyer Eddie Dodd (James Woods) and his apprentice Roger Baron (Robert Downey Jr.). Roger Baron is a recent graduate in law who wishes to learn and gain experience from Jaded lawyer Eddie Dodd. A very agitated woman appears before them, claiming her son was sentenced for murder eight years ago but is innocent. Roger encourages Dodd to pursue the matter. While working on the issue, Dodd and Roger discover a significant conspiracy that puts them at risk. The movie is based on an investigative series of articles regarding the conviction of a man. The murder occurred in 1973. Because of this series of articles, the case was reopened, and the accused was acquitted.

Director; the movie was directed by Joseph Ruben.

Cast; The movie stares James Wood (Eddie Dodd), Robert Downey Jr. (Roger Baron), Yuji Okumoto (Shu Kai Kim), Margaret Colin (Kitty Greer), and Kurtwood Smith (Robert Reynard).

Awards and Nominations; The information regarding Awards and Nominations is not available.

Commercial Performance; The movie grossed a total of $8, 742, 750.

Trivia; Eddie’s character was developed following Tony Serra, a civil rights lawyer. This movie was called “Fighting Justice” in Australia.

North Country 2005

Josey is married to an abusive husband, Wayne. The two have been blessed with two children, including Sammy and Karen. Josey decides to separate from her husband and return to her home area, Northern Minnesota. She meets with one of her old friends, Glory Dodge, a driver and a union rep in a mine run by Pearson Taconite and Steel. Although the workers at the mine are dominantly men, Josey decides to work there. She is motivated by the desire to charge for her life for the first time, something she could not do while working in a beauty salon. Nevertheless, her father, Hank Aimes, totally objects to her decision to work in the mine. This is because the father believes that she is limiting a working opportunity for a man, a view shared by all other male workers. Hank is of the opinion that her daughter's problems are self-made because she married Sammy while in high school and then unmarried him. She has always maintained that she has never known her husband's biological father, which makes Hank develop a negative attitude against her. Other workers at the mines get offended because they feel they will have to work with women. As a result, Josey and her friend are subjected to sexual harassment and other forms of moral injustice. She decides to seek legal redress despite warnings from family and friends.

Director; The movie is directed by Niki Caro.

Cast; The movie stars Charlize Theron (Josey Aimes), Frances McDormand (Glory Dodge), Sean Bean (Kyle), Richard Jenkins (Hank Aimes), Jeremy Renner (Robert Sharp), Michelle Monaghan (Sherry), Woody Harrelson (Bill White), and Sissy Spacek (Alice Aimes).

Awards and Nominations; The characters had various nominations. For instance, Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in the Academy Awards. In addition, these two were also nominated for the Best Actress Motion Picture Drama and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture in the Golden Globe Awards, best actress in the leading role and best stress in a supporting role, in British Academy Film Awards, outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role and outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role in the Screen Actors Guild Awards, best actress and best supporting actress in Critic's Choice Awards, and best stress – motion picture and best supporting actress – motion picture in Satellite Awards. Furthermore, Niki Caro and Frances McDormand won the audience choice award – best film and best supporting actress in Chicago International Film Festival and Las Vegas Film Critics Association. In addition, Charlize Theron was nominated for best actress in Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association, St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, and Vancouver Film Critics Film Circle. Lastly, Frances McDormand was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association.

Commercial Performance; This movie grossed a worldwide total of $25, 211, 175. In the US alone, it grossed $18, 337,722.

Trivia; Among the women that stood up in the final courtroom session were actual plaintiffs. Also, some of the harassment shown in the film realistically happened. The meeting union scene had 400 actual miners from Iron Range.

The Paradine Case 1947

After a brief inquiry, the police charge Maddalena Paradine with poisoning her husband, Colonel Richard Paradine. It is unfortunate that the husband was older and blind and had to rely on her and other people for sustenance and survival. Maddalena is plagued with nasty past experiences. She only gains wealth and dazzling because of marriage. Her solicitor Sir Simon Flaquer directs the case to Tony Keane, one of his colleagues. However, Tony gets romantically attracted to her after spending time together in prison, so serious that the attraction transitions to obsession immediately. As a result, he is so devoted to ensuring she gets cleared. He only has a few options, including coming up with a suicide narrative or a claim that someone else killed Colonel Richard Paradine. one of the individuals who can be accused of killing him is Andre Latour, a guy who Tony suspects to have had an affair with Paradine. As the case proceeds, Tony becomes so blind to the visible evidence.

Director; The movie is directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Cast; The main characters include; Gregory Peck (Anthony Keane), Ann Todd (Gay Keane), Alida Valli (Maddalena Anna Paradine), and Charles Laughton (Judge Lord Thomas Horfield).

Awards and Nominations; Ethel Barrymore received a nomination for a 1947 Oscar Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Commercial Performance; The only information available is on the box office, $2.1 million globally.

Trivia; This was the last movie for Alfred Hitchcock in a contract with David O. Selznick. James Mason was likely to be given Anthony Keane’s role. Also, it is Alfred Hitchcock who picked Ann Todd to act as Gary Keane.

Just Cause 1995

In this movie, Paul Armstrong (Sean Connery), a law professor, is devoted to fighting against death penult. He is tempted to represent a guy sentenced to death, Bobby Earl Ferguson (Blair Underwood). The inmate was found guilty of rape and murder. However, Ferguson in a row following a forced confession by a sneering local Sheriff named Laurence Fishburne. Armstrong begins to believe that Ed Harris could be the real criminal. Armstrong gets more confused about who the real culprit could be as he digs deeper into the case.

Director; The movie is directed by Arne Glimcher.

Cast; The movie stares Sean Connery (Paul Armstrong), Laurence Fishburne (Detective Tanny Brown), Kate Capshaw (Laurie Prentiss Armstrong), Blair Underwood (Bobby Earl Ferguson), Ruby Dee (Evangeline Ferguson), and Ed Harris (Blair Sullivan).

Awards and Nomination; This information is not available.

Commercial Performance; The movie grossed $10.6 million at the box office within the 1^st week of opening and $6.6 million in week 2. The movie grossed a total of $36.8 million in 5 weeks.

Trivia; Will Smith was considered to act as Bobby Earl Ferguson, while David Clennon was requested to play one of the featured roles. At first, Norman Jewison was tasked with the responsibility of directing.

Rules of Engagement 2000

In this movie, the career ambitions of Hayes Hodges shambles when he gets injured in Vietnam. When he returns to America, he becomes delusional as to go contrary to the service to Colonel Terry Childers, a person accused of inciting an event that left many individuals who were demonstrating dead. He cannot decline this responsibility because his life was saved by Childers while in Vietnam.

Director; The movie is directed by William Friedkin.

Cast; The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Hayes), Samuel L Jackson (Colonel Terry L. Childers, USMC), Guy Pearce (Major Mark Biggs, USMC), Bruce Greenwood (US National Security Advisor Bill Sokal), Blair Underwood (Captain Lee, USMC), Philip Baker Hall (General Hayes), Anne Archer (Mrs. Mourain), and Ben Kingsley (Ambassador Mountain).

Awards and Nominations; This information is not available.

Commercial Performance; This movie grossed $61,335,230 in the US and a total of $71,732,303 globally. The estimated budget for the movie was $60,000,000.

Trivia; The illusory U.S.S. Wake Island LHA-7 is repeatedly stated in the martial drama JAG (1995). H. Lawrence Hodge's house was also used as Jack Ryan's house in another film, Patriot Games (1992). Originally, Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere were supposed to feature in this movie.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose 2005

Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is charged with the death of a young girl called Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). This is because he conducted a religious exorcism that may have led to the death of the girl. According to the prosecuting attorney, Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott), the girl was plagued with schizophrenia and was supposed to be medically diagnosed. However, Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), the defense lawyer, asserts that science alone could not address the girl’s condition.

Director; The movie was directed by Scott Derrickson.

Cast; The movie stares Laura Linney (Erin Christine Bruner), Tom Wilkinson (Father Richard Moore), Campbell Scott (Ethan Thomas), Colm Feore (Karl Gunderson), Jennifer Carpenter (Emily Rose), Marry Beth Hurt (Judge Brewster), Henry Czerny (Dr. Briggs), and Shohreh Aghdashloo (Sadira Adani).

Awards and Nominations; This information is not available.

Commercial Performance; In the Us, the movie grossed $75 072 454. The total global gross amounted to $145 166 804.

Trivia; This was not the first time Laura Linney and Campbell Scott were acting together. The Husband to Mary Beth Hurt, Paul Schrader was the director of Dominion (2005). Additionally, Laura Linney was depicted as a defense lawyer of the priest, a role he played in Primal Fear (1996).

Conviction 2010

Betty Anne Waters (Swank) is a single parent and high school dropout. For more than 2 decades, she works while going through law school. Her objective is to gain experience and overturn the conviction of her brother (Rockwell). The brother was charged and unjustly sentenced for murder. She receives a lot of assistance from a friend (Minnie Driver) and unleashes a lot of suspicious evidence. Anne retraces the procedures that led to his brother's conviction, hoping to secure freedom for him.

Director; The movie was directed by Tony Goldwyn.

Cast; The movie stares Hillary Swank (Betty Anne Waters), Sam Rockwell (Kenny Waters), Minnie Driver (Abra Rice), Melissa Leo Nancy Taylor), Peter Gallagher (Barry Scheck), and Juliette Lewis (Roseanna Perry).

Awards and Nominations; In 2010, Sam Rockwell and Hillary Swank were nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor and Outstanding Performance by Female Actor in a Leading Role, respectively. In the same year, Juliette Lewis won the award for Best Performing Actress in the Boston Society of Film Critics Award.

Commercial Performance; The movie's budget was estimated to be $12.5 million. It grossed $6 783, 129 and $11 104 55 In the US and globally, respectively.

Trivia; Hillary Swank was not lucky enough to meet with her real-life character Betty Anne Waters up to the point when filming was about to start. She asserted that she really wished to get into the character rather than just mimicking someone. Also, the film took nearly a decade in development.

The Bottom Line

As outlined at the outset, courtroom movies continue to gain popularity, contrary to what many people think. Most of these movies are based on real-life occurrences, a feature that makes them testier. However, the fact that they mimic real-life events means they can be used to teach practical life lessons. This blog has discussed some of the greatest courtroom movies. Go through them if you are a movie buff.

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