Looking for a Great Courtroom Drama? Start Here
“Anatomy of a Murder,” starring Jimmy Stewart, is a legal drama that trusts audiences to dwell in gray areas.
At the defense table, Lee Remick, left, Jimmy Stewart and Ben Gazzara, with Arthur O’Connell and Eve Arden behind them.Credit...Columbia Pictures
Jan. 21, 2021
Gateway Movies offers ways to begin exploring directors, genres and topics in film by examining a few streaming movies.
Ready-made pressure-cookers that force audiences to question their own values, American courtroom movies are practically a genre of their own. Yet even the greatest ones give in to some pretty hokey dramatic impulses. Think of Jack Nicholson’s huffing, “You can’t handle the truth!” at the end of “A Few Good Men.” Paul Newman’s closing argument to the jury in “The Verdict” mentions faith, power and the symbols of justice — and not a single fact from the case.