COURTROOM GREATS

Over the years the courtroom seems to be a place where a lot of drama occurs, which is probably the reason why so many directors use the intimidating physical attributes of a courtroom within their films. There isn't a modern film that couldn't be improved with a good courtroom scene, well, maybe apart from Godzilla.

Gregory Peck sits along side Brock Peters in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

There have been some fine films set in grand places of justice, no more so than classics such as the weighty and influential "12 Angry Men" (1957) and the racial equality themed, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962). Unfortunately, not all courtroom films have the success they deserve or any success at all, arguably making them underrated or well, maybe the film just isn't that good! As I found out recently when I watched the disappointing and confusing mess that was True Story (2015), starring the miscast (my opinion) James Franco & Jonah Hill.

Henry Fonda and 11 others making up the "12 Angry Men"

However, this like many of my other articles is one that will try and persuade the reader to watch these films that maybe they haven't heard of or have heard of and didn't fancy it. So here are a few courtroom related films you may have missed, but definitely need to take time to watch...

#5 - A Time To Kill
Dir: Joel Schumacher

Before seriously denting the credentials of the Batman franchise with Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), Joel Schumacher directed the criminal justice drama, "A Time To Kill" (1996), which is based on the first novel by John Grisham. It is a story about Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), a black man who lives in rural Mississippi who becomes inconsolable after the rape of his 10 year-old daughter by two white supremacist rednecks. Hailey then kills the two rapist in cold blood as they head to the court hearing and seriously injures a deputy in the process. Throughout the film, Hailey is known to be guilty of a revenge killing and even the crippled deputy states under "oath" he would have done to same as Hailey, but being a black man in the evidently still racist state of Mississippi is very unfavourable. The film really hits home within the climatic ending where lawyer Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) vividly describes the sadistic act of the two rapists to the dominantly Caucasian faced jury and then ends by asking, "Now imagine she's white". My only critique with "Time To Kill" is all of its main characters, apart from Hailey are primarily white and it seems that black people used for only background purposes are for atmospheric drive only. For a film with a theme about race equality, this decision is baffling.

#4 - Conviction
Dir: Tony Goldwyn

"Conviction" (2010) is the true story of Betty Anne Waters (Hillary Swank), a working-class family woman with the baggage of a hard childhood. Her brother Kenny, (Sam Rockwell) is wrongfully sentenced for a crime he seemingly didn't commit, which is then the motivation for his sister to reshape her entire life and become a lawyer in order to win his freedom. The focus is put on Betty who knows more than anyone that her brother isn't exactly the nicest of men, but is innocent non the less. This key element of considering evidence rather than the personality of the accused is important to the story because it is the catalyst for the main themes of "Conviction", which are grit, single-mindedness and strength of purpose. The film itself is based on a real life event and includes the introduction of DNA testing, which dramatically helps Kenny Waters's case for innocence, but I won't reveal the outcome you'll have to watch it yourself. Unfortunately, the film doesn't touch on the fact that Betty actually lost her marriage due to her dedicating her life to brother's innocence. However, it is a film that is brilliantly cast and generates urgency of a character who is against the odds and holds strong to her beliefs.

#3 - Philadelphia
Dir: Jonathan Demme

Anything on the subject of the deadly disease that is AIDS is a sensitive matter, so when Hollywood decided to risk a high-budget film about it, well as you could probably predict, it had its skeptics. "Philadelphia" (1993) was a great success and showed that there are more emotional layers to the deadly disease than the inevitable outcome of death. "Philadelphia" is set in the city of brotherly love, but it seems the name is just for show as every character within the film seems to be homophobic. Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is a self-confessed 'excellent lawyer', who is given an important case at an old-line Philadelphia law firm. Soon however, another lawyer notices Beckett has lesions on his forehead that are associated with skin cancer and a cause of the AIDS virus. Beckett is then fired from the law firm because his case has certain files missing, which Beckett believes is a result of sabotage. In steps Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to defend Beckett in a court of law against the powerful firm that wrongly dismissed him because of his illness. The money and exposure of the case do fall from Miller's eyes and he soon realises that his prejudices against the gay community are wrong. Although a predictable notion, it is done so beautifully that it is a real eye-opener for the audience, which is what film making is all about, is it not? 'To change the perspective of the masses in order for progression'. Philadelphia truly was a pure first step for film makers to create a story around the controversial subject of AIDS and equality within the gay community.

#2 - Amistad

Dir: Steven Spielberg

What Amistad (1997) showed the viewer is that slavery in the 19th century was seen as a matter of laws in relation to ownership and property. Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" does not centre its story on slavery per se, but about whether a group of Africans who have murdered their captors, were born slaves (thus making them guilty of murder) or whether they were illegally obtained from Africa. For the second time in this article Matthew McConaughey plays a lawyer, but this time he specialises in property law. Much like a theme in Philadelphia, McConaughey starts to see his clients as human beings and not something he can personally benefit from. The film itself is clever and similar to another one of Spielberg's film, "Schindler's List". Both films don't try to shove the fact that slavery and the Holocaust were undeniably evil acts of human history. Instead, it tries to tell the story of good men trying to work realistically within a systematic machine of evil. What the film does is end brilliantly. Without giving too much away, ex-President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) eventually has to take the helm of defending the Africans led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) and performs a magnificent 11 minute solo-speech which wows the courtroom. Although JQ Adams wins, considering the history of worldwide slavery, it really is a hollow victory.

#1 - Sleepers

Dir: Barry Levinson

"Sleepers" (1996) begins with, "This is a true story about friendship that runs deeper than blood". In fact it isn't based on a true story, but after watching "Sleepers", I realised that maybe it's not based on a specific story, but concentrates on universal child abuse, the main theme of the film, which happens behind closed doors everyday. The story is one of four friends who grow up in the rough, but protective neighbourhood of Hell's Kitchen, New York in the mid-60's. Eventually they end up in reformatory after they are found guilty of negligent behaviour and crush a man accidentally with a hotdog wagon. They are then recipients of all magnitudes of abuse at the hands of the reformatory lead guard, Nokes (Kevin Bacon). The film fast forwards to 1981 and two of the boys are now gang members. They spot Nokes in a bar and seek revenge on the years of abuse by gunning him down. The film then centres on the court hearing to which the assistant DA, Michael (Brad Pitt) and Shakes (Jason Patric) create a scheme to help their friends, whose case against them is a strong one. Michael and Shakes were also abused and share the pain and understand the motive behind the killing. So as a result, Michael deliberately plays the prosecutor in order to secretly obstruct the outcome. The film is littered with big stars such as Dustin Hoffman playing an alcoholic defense lawyer and Robert De Niro as a priest, who is the moral compass for the boys. Casting Brad Pitt and Jason Patric as the two main protagonists is a bold one because are we the audience suppose to believe these two are former West Side Boys from the mean streets? Upon further analysis though, by casting the main roles with stars, it distracts the audience away from the lesser known defendants (Billy Crudup & Ron Eldard). The film gives off an unreasonable weighing that rape of young boys outweighs murder, but that's what makes "Sleepers" great, it does persuade the audience that under certain circumstances murder is justified, a notion present in "A Time To Kill (see #5). What should be asked then is that if the young boys were beaten instead of sexually assaulted, then would the film have the same outcome? Is the fact that the boys were homosexually raped an underlying factor? And if so, then is homophobia itself used as being negative to justify morality? After watching "Sleepers" these questions were etched in the back of mind and for that, "Sleepers" deserves the #1 spot on this list, because it left me thinking, which in my opinion, any good film does.