Neshoba: The Price of Freedom (2008), Contratiempo (2016), A Lesson Before Dying (1999), West of Memphis (2012), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), Capturing the Friedmans (2003), Primal Fear (1996), Remember the Night (1940) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Legal Drama movies.
Storyline: In 1964, three civil rights activists go missing in Mississippi. The bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are found months later, and the three Klansman accused of murdering them are put on trial. All three are found not guilty, including Edgar Ray Killen who openly flaunts his involvement in the killings for years after the trial. Interviews with local community members and the victim's families highlight the ongoing effort to bring Killen to trial a second time.
Plot Keywords: documentary, civil rights, murder, racism, 1960s, justice, cold case ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Adrián Doria, a wealthy businessman named Man of the Year due to his high-tech company and his trade agreements with the Asian market, meets Virginia Goodman, a veteran lawyer expert in witness preparation and judicial declaration, recommended by Adrián's lawyer Felix Leiva in order to create a credible defense. Arrested by the police in a mountain hotel room with the corpse of his lover at his side, photographer Laura Vidal, Adrián talks Virginia about the crime and his relationship with Laura, revealing that both suffered a car crash where a man called Daniel Garrido died, and how Laura manipulated Adrián to avoid the jail by Daniel's death. At the same time that Félix is looking for a clue that it could change the course of the events, Virginia and Adrián keep talking about the case but her, unconvinced of the Adrián's testimony, forces him to clear the dark points of his history, in a puzzle where the truth and the lie are easily exchangeable.
Plot Keywords: thriller, crime, drama, plot twist, courtroom, lawyer, murder ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A caring teacher (Don Cheadle) tries to inspire strength and dignity in an innocent black man (Mekhi Phifer) condemned to death in 1940s Louisiana.
Plot Keywords: drama, crime, racism, injustice, 1940s, african american, teacher ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.—Production
Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, legal drama, wrongful conviction, murder, justice, courtroom ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A judge (Myrna Loy) orders a playboy (Cary Grant) to date her infatuated teenage sister (Shirley Temple) to cure the girl's crush on him.
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, classic, courtroom, misunderstanding, romantic comedy, love triangle ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the late 1980's, the Friedmans - father and respected computer and music teacher Arnold Friedman, mother and housewife Elaine Friedman, and their three grown sons, David Friedman, Seth Friedman and Jesse Friedman - of Great Neck, Long Island, are seemingly your typical middle class American family. They all admit that the marriage was by no means close to being harmonious - Arnold and Elaine eventually got divorced - but the sons talk of their father, while also not being always there for them, as being a good man. This façade of respectability masks the fact that Arnold was buying and distributing child pornography. Following a sting operation to confirm this fact, the authorities began to investigate Arnold for sexual abuse of the minor-aged male students of his computer classes, which he held in the basement of the family home. Based on interviews with the students, not only was Arnold charged with and ultimately convicted of multiple counts of sodomy and sexual abuse of these boys but so was eighteen year old Jesse, who was mentioned by many as the aggressor of the two in the acts. Arnold admitted that he is a pedophile, but that he did not abuse the boys in his class as charged and convicted. The trial process brought out the dysfunction that previously existed within the family. But the issue of Arnold and Jesse's guilt of these acts is hotly debated among the family, among the authorities, among the media and among the students of the computer classes.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: documentary, true crime, family drama, legal drama, psychological, controversial, interviews ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When a young man, Aaron, is charged with the horrific murder of Archbishop Rushman, hot-shot Chicago lawyer Martin Vail takes on his defense at no charge. Aaron was a homeless street kid before he was taken in by the Archbishop. He's shy and speaks with a stammer. Vail is convinced that Aaron is innocent but after discovering a video that shows Aaron may have had good reason to want the Archbishop dead, he begins to question that conclusion. When Aaron lashes out at the psychologist examining him another personality, Roy, is revealed. With the trial already underway, Vail cannot change Aaron plea and so has to find a way to introduce his client's condition. Aaron has something of a surprise for him as well.
Plot Keywords: legal drama, courtroom drama, psychological thriller, crime film, mystery, richard gere, murder ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent. He postpones the trial because it is hard to get a conviction at Christmas time. However, he feels sorry for her and arranges for her bail; he also ends up taking her home to his mother for Christmas. Surrounded by a loving family (in stark contrast to Lee's own family background), they fall in love. This creates a new problem: how do they handle the upcoming trial?—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>
Plot Keywords: romance, comedy, drama, christmas, courtroom, crime, romantic comedy ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Regarded as a First Amendment crusader by some and a smut peddler by others, Larry Flynt is nevertheless an important figure in American culture. In this documentary, Flynt talks about his Hustler magazine empire and discusses the prison sentence he served for not revealing the source of a tape featuring auto executive John DeLorean being threatened by the FBI. He also offers insight into his political campaigns and the Supreme Court trial that pitted him against religious leader Jerry Falwell.
Plot Keywords: documentary, biography, controversial, legal battle, media, journalism, activism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Antoine Besson, Miriam's divorced husband, is a nice man. In charge of security in a hospital, he is esteemed both by his superiors and his fellow colleagues. Moreover he is a good father who, willing to be closer to his eleven-year-old son Julien, has chosen to be transferred to the town where the boy lives with his mother and his older sister Joséphine, soon to be of age. That is the very reason why Antoine, the caring father, is asking for joint custody of Julien. Well, all that would be fine provided Antoine actually was the man he claims to be. The trouble is that his wife and his two children see him in a very different light. For in the past, Antoine was far from an angel. On the contrary, he had a knack for creating an atmosphere of permanent fear at home, going as far as to occasionally beat his wife under his children's eyes. And he got away with it all the more easily as Miriam, wishing to avoid even more problems, never lodged a complaint against him - a fact that eventually turns against her. Which is why, despite the fact that Julien does not want to see his father any more, the family court judge complies with Antoine's request.—Guy Bellinger
Plot Keywords: legal drama, tension, emotional conflict, domestic violence, psychological pressure, social issues, french film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: It is our national novel. Reading to Kill a Mockingbird is something we all have in common. Harper Lee's first and only novel turns 50 this summer and the author hasn't given an interview since 1964 or published a second book. In compelling interviews with Scott Turow, James McBride, Wally Lamb, Rosanne Cash, Anna Quindlen, Oprah Winfrey,Tom Brokaw, among others, and with rare cooperation from Harper Lee's sister and friends, Mary Murphy traces the history of this astonishing phenomenon.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, literature, biography, american literature, social issues, alabama, 1960s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When a woman attempts to kill her uncaring husband, prosecutor Adam Bonner gets the case. Unfortunately for him his wife Amanda (who happens to be a lawyer too) decides to defend the woman in court. Amanda uses everything she can to win the case and Adam gets mad about it. As a result, their perfect marriage is disturbed by everyday quarrels...
Plot Keywords: courtroom, comedy, marriage, gender roles, law, rivalry, romance ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Hoping to escape the complications of 15th-century Paris, young lawyer Richard Courtois (Colin Firth) takes a job as a public defender in a rural area. There he finds himself defending a pig accused of murdering a Jewish boy. Squaring off against a determined prosecutor (Donald Pleasence) and Catholic priest (Ian Holm), Richard defends the animal, which is owned by a beautiful gypsy woman, Samira (Amina Annabi). The medieval justice system and local superstitions mingle as the case plays out.
Plot Keywords: legal drama, historical drama, courtroom drama, moral dilemma, social justice, corruption, murder mystery ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In 1924 Chicago, Artie Strauss and Judd Steiner are friends and fellow law students who both come from wealthy backgrounds. They have few true friends as they believe all their contemporaries are intellectually inferior. Within their relationship, Artie is the dominant and Judd the submissive who says he will do whatever Artie tells him. Although Judd acts intellectually arrogant to others, he also shows signs of weakness and reticence most evident to Artie. Part of their goal in life is to experience how it feels to do everything. As such, they plot to commit what they consider the perfect crime - a kidnapping and murder - not only so that they can experience the sense of killing for killing's sake, but also taunt the law with the knowledge of it and their superiority after the fact. They believe their crime is above the law. Their murder of young Paulie Kessler is not so perfect, with evidence at the scene uncovered by one of their law school colleagues, Sid Brooks, who also works for the Globe newspaper. As Artie and Judd try to manipulate their way out of how the evidence may implicate them, their manipulation ultimately backfires and they are charged with the murder. The most famed trial lawyer in town, Jonathan Wilk, is hired to defend the pair despite his atheism being against the families' sensibilities. Jonathan, renowned for his ability to manipulate juries, has to decide how best to defend his clients in the overwhelming face of evidence against them. The testimony of Ruth Evans, Sid's girlfriend, may have some impact on the trial's outcome.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: crime, drama, thriller, courtroom, based on true story, murder, psychological ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Tommy Chong, of "Cheech & Chong" fame, deals with the federal government following charges of selling drug paraphernalia.
Plot Keywords: documentary, biography, comedy, counterculture, activism, legal drama, music ...
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