This comes off a little better if you haven't seen it in several years and can view it with a fresher sensibility. The first half of this courtroom story is farcical and much of it is pretty thin, and what's not thin is forced. An ambitious young lawyer (Judd Nelson) at a Boston firm does everything possible to attract attention, turning his first minor case into a comic First Amendment blockbuster, pivoting on the question of whether the word "A**hole" should be stricken from the record. Nelson has a couple of friends on his side and a beautiful girl friend (Elizabeth Perkins) who is there to provide support and moral guidance.
He needs the moral guidance. The second half turns into a serious examination of a defense counselor's responsibility to his client. The client in this case is the arrogant self-proclaimed professor, John Hurt, who may or may not have killed his lover and her boyfriend. Hurt is a thoroughly unlikable guy. Nelson becomes convinced that his client actually did murder the girl, but he can't resign from the case or get Hurt to confess.
Two people emerge from this hodge podge with their dignities thoroughly intact -- John Hurt as the likely killer and Nancy Marchand as the head of the law firm that employs and, perforce, promotes Nelson to partner.
The dramatic second half is more engaging than the constant snickering and laughter of the first half. Hurt does a phenomenal job of turning from a supercilious bastard into a wretched lunatic by incremental steps. But the legal procedures should never be taken as realistic. Both of Nelson's parents were attorneys and he generously pointed out errors. I was the courtroom sketch artist and it was an enjoyable shoot except for the humid, dense, blistering atmosphere of the sound stage. When the milieu was too noisy, Nelson was fond of shouting, "Odor in the court!" Bob Clark was probably one of the least pretentious directors around. He died in a car crash with his son. He left no masterpieces behind, but his horror film, "Dead of Night," has more social significance than might be expected.
He needs the moral guidance. The second half turns into a serious examination of a defense counselor's responsibility to his client. The client in this case is the arrogant self-proclaimed professor, John Hurt, who may or may not have killed his lover and her boyfriend. Hurt is a thoroughly unlikable guy. Nelson becomes convinced that his client actually did murder the girl, but he can't resign from the case or get Hurt to confess.
Two people emerge from this hodge podge with their dignities thoroughly intact -- John Hurt as the likely killer and Nancy Marchand as the head of the law firm that employs and, perforce, promotes Nelson to partner.
The dramatic second half is more engaging than the constant snickering and laughter of the first half. Hurt does a phenomenal job of turning from a supercilious bastard into a wretched lunatic by incremental steps. But the legal procedures should never be taken as realistic. Both of Nelson's parents were attorneys and he generously pointed out errors. I was the courtroom sketch artist and it was an enjoyable shoot except for the humid, dense, blistering atmosphere of the sound stage. When the milieu was too noisy, Nelson was fond of shouting, "Odor in the court!" Bob Clark was probably one of the least pretentious directors around. He died in a car crash with his son. He left no masterpieces behind, but his horror film, "Dead of Night," has more social significance than might be expected.