It’s time for a very long courtroom drama. This one definitely has the length of an epic but it allows the movie to really go in depth on every piece of evidence. The movie is based on a book based on a real case but wit the names and everything switched I figured it should still get the full review and score treatment. It is definitely an intense case all the way and should keep your attention all the way through. It’s dealing with some pretty severe subject matter but actually shows enough restraint not to have any of it on screen so I can really appreciate that.

The film starts with Biegler relaxing. Business has been slow but that’s all about to change. He is asked to represent Laura’s husband Manny in a rather big case. Manny murdered someone but he did it to avenge his wife who had been attacked and Sword Art Online’d by another guy. So Manny’s murder was righteous justice. At least that’s the way he sees it. Biegler has to point out that no matter how awful the other person was, this would still be considered pre mediated murder as it didn’t happen immediately. It’s not self defense or anything as the act had already happened after the guy violated Laura. They could try for temporary insanity but it doesn’t seem like that will hold up. Biegler’s going to really have to fight hard to win this case..but should he win it?

There is a whole lot going on here and so one of the themes is really about just looking ahead and doing your job. It’s the toughest part about being a lawyer to be honest as it means you will sometimes need to defend crooks and people that you know are guilty. You can’t let your personal feelings sway your judgment and have to trust in the jury and the courts system to come up with the right verdict. Manny’s no saint by any stretch of the imagination. For starters he is a domestic abuser who is always hitting Laura and the guy gets insanely jealous. He has a full on violent streak which doesn’t help his case at all. If Biegler is able to get him off, then Laura’s life is about to get a lot worse.

Meanwhile for Laura, she continues to live it up at the clubs. She doesn’t act in the way one would be expected to after such a traumatic experience. It could be the way she is coping but as Biegler says, that doesn’t matter right now, they need the good optics. So he tells her to stop looking so beautiful all the time which is a rather difficult demand for her. Throughout the movie everyone keeps commenting on how beautiful she is and she loves flirting nonstop. That’s basically her gimmick and it doesn’t do wonders for Biegler here. After all, she told the group what happened and there was circumstantial evidence to support it but it’s not like anyone else was there and the cleanup crew could find no evidence.

Thing is, they weren’t likely to find evidence since they didn’t show up until the next day. The movie never actually confirms what happened one way or the other as you are meant to come to a decision on this just like the jury. Personally I do think it happened. Going back to the coping part, I think that’s exactly what happened here. She could have froze up and completely broken mentally but instead she tried to just move past this and use her beauty as a weapon. Her history of flirting and going around started even before the event so most likely it is an event that went sideways. She doesn’t intend to change her ways after one bad outing and either way it doesn’t excuse the guy who got murdered in any way. He got what was coming to him and that’s that.

The film acknowledging that optics are important is a realistic move. Most things are about optics which is why PR is so important. Even if the facts haven’t changed, it does make sense that more people will be sympathetic to Laura’s plight if she looks really homely. It’s a huge bias to be sure but one that does track when you take data samples. In a perfect world she should be able to dress and act however she likes without it affecting her case but nobody lives in a perfect world just yet. I am glad that Biegler stayed strong when she was flirting with him though. That would definitely have been a whole mess and someone has to stay professional. She was really goading him on too but he didn’t take the bait. It is a dangerous game because eventually someone might make a move but at least that day was not today.

One thing that’s always tricky here though is when a film is trying to present someone as super beautiful. A lady so gorgeous that every guy falls for her immediately. There are standards of beauty and people who will immediately be found attractive by most but it’s never to this kind of exaggeration. I would have liked at least one character to have not appeared to be interested just to keep it from being this one sided. Like Biegler admitting she wasn’t his type or something. It’s a super mild nitpick though and I suppose anyone reviewing the film who does think she is super beautiful may disagree on that point. It’s just a pretty large generalization but maybe everyone in the area grew up with roughly the same standards and she would meet all of their criteria each time.

I’d say the only weak part of the film is how people in the courtroom couldn’t really stay professional. The fact that talking about underwear in such a serious case would have people laughing was just weird. I know cultural norms change over time but that felt like a bit much. For a case this serious I wouldn’t expect very many smiles to be had at all, let alone full laughter. Based on that I would assume Laura had already lost the whole jury if they weren’t taking this seriously.

The ending was rather unexpected I have to say. I just wasn’t prepared for things to go in that direction but it’s an interesting way to end things. Sort of like the cycle continues and it also makes you rethink how the case ended one last time. This is really a movie that did not end until the very last moment. I don’t see things going well for the two characters who vanished at the end but maybe things will be better this time. Who knows in the end…..

Overall, This was definitely a very intense movie. There are a ton of characters and supporting evidence that show up at different points in the film. Different twists, half truths, and new developments that recontextualize everything before it. You really have to be paying attention at all times or you might miss something. I’d have preferred the case was about a different topic as the gravity of this one does lower replay value to an extent but you will want to watch it at least once to see what was really going on here. It’s super well known for good reason after all. I doubt you will find very many titles that are quite as detailed as this one. Of course whether or not the law would agree with this, I would say Manny made the right move in taking the guy out. Manny was a terrible character overall but you can’t let that guy live after what he did to Laura. That would really have been the wrong move.

Overall 7/10