A courtroom drama is a subgenre of dramatic fiction. Law enforcement, crime, detective-based mystery solving, lawyer work, civil litigation, etc., are all possible focuses of legal dramas. So with that being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 favorite courtroom dramas of all-time. So without further ado...
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc
This movie is very emotional and very powerful as well. The film recreates the trial and execution of St. Joan with near-documentary authenticity, as if one were present at the actual 15th century event and both defendant and accusers were the genuine article. The Passion of Joan of Arc has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. The Verdict
This is a powerful and very emotional yet very awesome film. Frank (played by Paul Newman), down on his luck, is presented with the case of his life when he is approached by the family of a woman who has been left in a coma following an operation in a large Catholic hospital. Helped by his assistant Mickey (played by Jack Warden), he agrees to take the case, hoping for a fast settlement. When he visits the victim in the hospital, he becomes emotionally involved, turns down a sizable settlement offer made by the hospital, and decides to bring the case to trial despite the formidable opposition of the Church and its lawyer, Newman (played by James Mason). He is also assisted by his new girlfriend, Laura (played by Charlotte Rampling), a woman who turns out to have an unusual past. The Verdict was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Kramer vs. Kramer
This film is mainly considered great because it actually shows us a prelude to what it is happening in our society today. Manhattan housewife Joanna Kramer (played by Meryl Streep) walks out on her workaholic ad man husband Ted (played by Dustin Hoffman), leaving their young son Billy (played by Justin Henry) in Ted's less than capable hands. Through trial and error, Ted learns how to take care of Billy, devoting more energy to his family than to his work, and finally losing his high-powered job because of his new priorities. When Joanna returns with her own lucrative job and the intent to take custody of Billy, Ted finds employment that won't interfere with his paternal duties. Even though he proves that he can do it all, Joanna still wins in court. Joanna, however, rethinks her desires when she finally grasps how close father and son have become. Kramer vs. Kramer was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, 2 nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, while winning 5 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress) and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Philadelphia
This is a pretty powerful film and it has one of the best performances ever seen on film. The homosexual Andrew (played by Tom Hanks) has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm's senior partner, Charles Wheeler (played by Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm's reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (played by Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm's key litigators, Belinda Conine (played by Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. Philadelphia was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, 2 nominations for Best Original Song, and Best Makeup, while winning 2 (Best Actor and Best Original Song) and it has a rating of 77% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Crucible (1996)
In my honest opinion I think this is one of Daniel Day-Lewis's most underrated performance and I think that it is better than the original 1957 version. After a group of young women is accused of witchcraft in the Puritan community of Salem, Mass. in 1692, Abigail Williams (played by Winona Ryder) is held in suspicion of practicing magic. Abigail in turn levels charges against John Proctor (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) and his wife Elizabeth (played by Joan Allen). Abigail has a private grudge against the Proctors; while working as their servant, she had an affair with John, and when John ended the relationship and returned to his wife, Abigail was fired. Now the Reverend Parris (played by Bruce Davison) is hearing accusations and counter-accusations of misdeeds from all sides of the community in the wake of Abigail's charges, so he brings in Judge Danforth (played by Paul Scofield) to determine who is guilty or innocent. However, given the moral climate of the time, it seems someone has to be found guilty of witchcraft, even though firm evidence of wrongdoing is becoming hard to come by. The Crucible was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress and it has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. The Lincoln Lawyer
This is the film that restarted Matthew McConaughey's career. Most of the time, Mickey (played by Matthew McConaughey) barely keeps his head above water, representing low-life clients and working out of the back of his car. He thinks he's landed the case of a lifetime when he's hired to defend a rich playboy (played by Ryan Phillippe) who stands accused of rape and attempted murder, and eagerly accepts his new client and the massive payoff that's sure to come with him. But Mickey soon discovers that he's become ensnared in a twisted plot where no fee in the world is high enough to pay for the deadly workload, and his only hope of survival may just lay in his own skills as a long-practiced double-crosser. The Lincoln Lawyer has a rating of 83% on rottentomatoes.com.
4.. In The Name of The Father
This film shows just how corrupt a justice system can be. It is based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people named Gerry Conlon (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), Paul Hill (played by John Lynch), Paddy Armstrong (played by Mark Sheppard) and Carole Richardson (played by Beatie Edney) are falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford Pub bombings which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian. In The Name of the Father was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Writing and it has a rating of 84% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
A widowed lawyer (played by Gregory Peck) with two children named Scout and Jem (played by Mary Badham and Philip Alford respectively) defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930's Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Best Art Direction (Black and White) and Best Cinematography (Black and White) while winning 3 (Best Art Direction (Black and White), Actor and Adapted Screenplay) and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. A Few Good Men
I absolutely love this film and it also has one of the greatest lines in cinema history. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (played by James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (played by Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Santiago (played by Michael de Lorenzo) at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kaffee generally plea bargains for his clients rather than bring them to trial, which is probably why he was assigned this potentially embarassing case, but when Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (played by Demi Moore) is assigned to assist Kaffee, she is convinced that there's more to the matter than they've been led to believe and convinces her colleague that the case should go to court. Under questioning, Downey and Dawson reveal that Santiago died in the midst of a hazing ritual known as "Code Red" after he threatened to inform higher authorities that Dawson opened fire on a Cuban watchtower. They also state that the "Code Red" was performed under the orders of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (played by Kiefer Sutherland). Kendrick's superior, tough-as-nails Col. Nathan Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson), denies any knowledge of the order to torture Santiago, but when Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (played by J.T. Walsh) confides to Kaffee that Jessup demanded the "Code Red" for violating his order of silence, Kaffee and Galloway have to find a way to prove this in court. A Few Good Men was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc
This movie is very emotional and very powerful as well. The film recreates the trial and execution of St. Joan with near-documentary authenticity, as if one were present at the actual 15th century event and both defendant and accusers were the genuine article. The Passion of Joan of Arc has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. The Verdict
This is a powerful and very emotional yet very awesome film. Frank (played by Paul Newman), down on his luck, is presented with the case of his life when he is approached by the family of a woman who has been left in a coma following an operation in a large Catholic hospital. Helped by his assistant Mickey (played by Jack Warden), he agrees to take the case, hoping for a fast settlement. When he visits the victim in the hospital, he becomes emotionally involved, turns down a sizable settlement offer made by the hospital, and decides to bring the case to trial despite the formidable opposition of the Church and its lawyer, Newman (played by James Mason). He is also assisted by his new girlfriend, Laura (played by Charlotte Rampling), a woman who turns out to have an unusual past. The Verdict was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Kramer vs. Kramer
This film is mainly considered great because it actually shows us a prelude to what it is happening in our society today. Manhattan housewife Joanna Kramer (played by Meryl Streep) walks out on her workaholic ad man husband Ted (played by Dustin Hoffman), leaving their young son Billy (played by Justin Henry) in Ted's less than capable hands. Through trial and error, Ted learns how to take care of Billy, devoting more energy to his family than to his work, and finally losing his high-powered job because of his new priorities. When Joanna returns with her own lucrative job and the intent to take custody of Billy, Ted finds employment that won't interfere with his paternal duties. Even though he proves that he can do it all, Joanna still wins in court. Joanna, however, rethinks her desires when she finally grasps how close father and son have become. Kramer vs. Kramer was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, 2 nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, while winning 5 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress) and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Philadelphia
This is a pretty powerful film and it has one of the best performances ever seen on film. The homosexual Andrew (played by Tom Hanks) has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm's senior partner, Charles Wheeler (played by Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm's reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (played by Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm's key litigators, Belinda Conine (played by Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. Philadelphia was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, 2 nominations for Best Original Song, and Best Makeup, while winning 2 (Best Actor and Best Original Song) and it has a rating of 77% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Crucible (1996)
In my honest opinion I think this is one of Daniel Day-Lewis's most underrated performance and I think that it is better than the original 1957 version. After a group of young women is accused of witchcraft in the Puritan community of Salem, Mass. in 1692, Abigail Williams (played by Winona Ryder) is held in suspicion of practicing magic. Abigail in turn levels charges against John Proctor (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) and his wife Elizabeth (played by Joan Allen). Abigail has a private grudge against the Proctors; while working as their servant, she had an affair with John, and when John ended the relationship and returned to his wife, Abigail was fired. Now the Reverend Parris (played by Bruce Davison) is hearing accusations and counter-accusations of misdeeds from all sides of the community in the wake of Abigail's charges, so he brings in Judge Danforth (played by Paul Scofield) to determine who is guilty or innocent. However, given the moral climate of the time, it seems someone has to be found guilty of witchcraft, even though firm evidence of wrongdoing is becoming hard to come by. The Crucible was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress and it has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. The Lincoln Lawyer
This is the film that restarted Matthew McConaughey's career. Most of the time, Mickey (played by Matthew McConaughey) barely keeps his head above water, representing low-life clients and working out of the back of his car. He thinks he's landed the case of a lifetime when he's hired to defend a rich playboy (played by Ryan Phillippe) who stands accused of rape and attempted murder, and eagerly accepts his new client and the massive payoff that's sure to come with him. But Mickey soon discovers that he's become ensnared in a twisted plot where no fee in the world is high enough to pay for the deadly workload, and his only hope of survival may just lay in his own skills as a long-practiced double-crosser. The Lincoln Lawyer has a rating of 83% on rottentomatoes.com.
4.. In The Name of The Father
This film shows just how corrupt a justice system can be. It is based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people named Gerry Conlon (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), Paul Hill (played by John Lynch), Paddy Armstrong (played by Mark Sheppard) and Carole Richardson (played by Beatie Edney) are falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford Pub bombings which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian. In The Name of the Father was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Writing and it has a rating of 84% on rottentomatoes.com.
A widowed lawyer (played by Gregory Peck) with two children named Scout and Jem (played by Mary Badham and Philip Alford respectively) defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930's Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Best Art Direction (Black and White) and Best Cinematography (Black and White) while winning 3 (Best Art Direction (Black and White), Actor and Adapted Screenplay) and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. A Few Good Men
I absolutely love this film and it also has one of the greatest lines in cinema history. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (played by James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (played by Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Santiago (played by Michael de Lorenzo) at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kaffee generally plea bargains for his clients rather than bring them to trial, which is probably why he was assigned this potentially embarassing case, but when Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (played by Demi Moore) is assigned to assist Kaffee, she is convinced that there's more to the matter than they've been led to believe and convinces her colleague that the case should go to court. Under questioning, Downey and Dawson reveal that Santiago died in the midst of a hazing ritual known as "Code Red" after he threatened to inform higher authorities that Dawson opened fire on a Cuban watchtower. They also state that the "Code Red" was performed under the orders of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (played by Kiefer Sutherland). Kendrick's superior, tough-as-nails Col. Nathan Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson), denies any knowledge of the order to torture Santiago, but when Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (played by J.T. Walsh) confides to Kaffee that Jessup demanded the "Code Red" for violating his order of silence, Kaffee and Galloway have to find a way to prove this in court. A Few Good Men was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. 12 Angry Men
This film is amazing and it just shows what can happen when we put prejudice aside and what consensus building can do for everyone. Following the closing arguments in a murder trial, the 12 members of the jury must deliberate, with a guilty verdict meaning death for the accused, an inner-city teen. As the dozen men try to reach a unanimous decision while sequestered in a room, one juror (played by Henry Fonda) casts considerable doubt on elements of the case. Personal issues soon rise to the surface, and conflict threatens to derail the delicate process that will decide one boy's fate. 12 Angry Men was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay, it also has a rating of 100% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of my list and what are some of your favorite courtroom dramas of all-time? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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