The focus of this David-vs.-Goliath courtroom drama is on the plaintiffs' attorney (the David figure) in a morally straightforward medical malpractice suit. What we have here is no extraordinary lawyer in the Perry Mason mold, nor even an ordinary one. What we have instead is a walking-talking wreck. The setting-up of his disreputable personality serves, firstly, to delay the arrival and, after the arrival, retard the progress of the central case, which becomes for the hero a last chance at self-redemption and a golden opportunity to speak lines that are none the less mawkish in impact for being laconic and cryptic in expression: "If I take the money, I'm lost"; "Things change"; etc. About halfway through, interest does pick up, as the lawyer's numerous shortcomings begin to bear more directly on the case, and as the less mawkish theme of professional ineptitude begins to take precedence over that of personal redemption: his shortness of breath in moments of stress, his verbal stumblings and spoonerisms, his runny-nosed snifflings, his dry-mouthed, imperfectly memorized, "ah"-punctuated opening speech to the jury (in sharp contrast to the closing speech, where, having sufficiently oiled up his creaky skills, he gets very eloquent as the camera helpfully swoops in on him). All these symptoms of a man out of his depth are well observed and acted. But they, along with additional wisdoms and cynicisms about the legal profession, are really nothing more than banalities. Their sense of freshness depends primarily on the unwavering audience reverence for "reality." With Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, and Jack Warden; written by David Mamet; directed by Sidney Lumet. (1982) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.