Reviews

I hated the ending of this movie. I like surprise endings, but they have to be somewhat realistic.

This ending just made me wonder why in the world I watched two hours of it. I mean, you get to like the characters and then, whamo, you learn that they are not even real characters, just figments of nuts imagination.

What a let down.

I do not know what others liked this movie. Maybe the reason I hated it was because I could watch half hour Twilight Zone episodes that contain the same plot and ending and not waste so much time.

Some of these modern movies with their two minute surprise endings really could be done in 45 minutes or less.

The ending of this movie was just a little too predictable to a movie savvy and legally trained viewer.

For someone as smart as the character Hopkins plays, he should have known that taking his wife off life support would result in a murder charge because double jeopardy does not apply to two different crimes.

If he knew this, he should also have known that admitting to it after the fact could have created new evidence for a new trial. It was way too predictable that the attorney secretly recorded the confession. At least Hopkins didn't resort to that silly old unrealistic Hollywood dramatic confession upon being pressed. Instead, he confessed as a form of bragging, which is probably more realistic.

The ending leaves me with some legal quandaries, such as: "can the recording be entered into evidence against the accused when it was gathered by the District Attorney"? I'm sure the author of the book was legally trained and made clear in the novel how the law operated, but the movie left out some of these interesting little legal explanations which could have been explained through dialog between the Assistant DA and another attorney.

In any event, I liked this movie. It was entertaining and the storyline of the Assistant District Attorney getting hired at a law firm after proving his mettle in court was realistic. His turning down the job in favor of satisfying his pride and fighting another court battle is also realistic as some lawyers would do this.

The least realistic part of the movie was the predictable ending. It was an ending that a legally trained audience expected, but it could have been done better.

This movie depicts the struggle and hard work of a young lawyer who is pretty much on his own. While the main plot concerns a civil case against an insurance company defendant, the protagonist, Rudy, must delve into many other areas of life and law, just as most young attorneys must.

Rudy starts as a law clerk in the only firm that will take him in. While studying for the bar exam, his bosses make him breach legal ethics by "ambulance chasing" and committing various other marketing offenses. Rudy's bosses then disappear as the IRS comes hunting them, causing Rudy to have to handle his cases alone with a somewhat inept legal sidekick.

Young lawyers on their own can relate to taking on pretty much every case that comes through the door. While fighting a monumental battle against an insurance company, Rudy delves into Estate Planning, Criminal Law, and working on the side just to pay his rent.

In the end, Rudy has fought hard and helped people, but comes away with no money. This is realistic too as idealistic young lawyers on their own do not start to get paid until they have made a name for themselves and learned the ropes.

It has been awhile since I saw this movie, but several pieces of it are ingrained within my memory.

The realism of the last scene make this movie a legal drama that is worth watching for lawyers. The protagonist played by Jimmy Stewart, a shrewd country lawyer up against the big city prosecutors, fights hard for his criminal client. He studies the laws and makes a very hard to win defense based on a new and novel legal defense: "temporary insanity".

Stewart counsels his client and does a good job portraying how real lawyers interact with criminal clients. In the end, after winning a victory that seemed hopeless, the client leaves without paying his bill--depicting a typical real world ending to a hard fought case.

And people hate lawyers for wanting to get paid up front...