Directed by Jonathan Lynn • 1992 • United States
Starring Marisa Tomei, Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio

The spitfire chemistry between Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei propels this ultraquotable courtroom comedy, a surprise hit that earned the latter a rare Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress) for a comi...

Directed by Norman Jewison • 1979 • United States
Starring Al Pacino, Jack Warden, John Forsythe

“You’re out of order!” Al Pacino electrifies in this scorching indictment of the justice system, a rousing blend of scathing satire and impassioned drama from socially conscious director Norman Jewi...

Directed by Miloš Forman • 1996 • United States
Starring Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton

Director Miloš Forman brings his slyly subversive sensibility to this wickedly entertaining, stranger-than-fiction look at one man’s notorious public persona and unconventional private life. Wo...

Directed by Robert Benton • 1979 • United States
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander

Groundbreaking in its empathetic look at both the emotional and legal fallout of divorce, this landmark drama features powerhouse performances from Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as a couple w...

Directed by William Friedkin • 1997 • United States
Starring James Gandolfini, Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott

William Friedkin’s remake of the 1957 Sidney Lumet/Henry Fonda classic brings together a powerhouse ensemble cast that includes Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, Ossie Davis, Edward James Olm...

Directed by Otto Preminger • 1959 • United States
Starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara

A virtuoso James Stewart plays a small-town Michigan lawyer who takes on a difficult case: the defense of a young army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering a local tavern owner who he belie...

Directed by Sidney Lumet • 1982 • United States
Starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden

Twenty-five years after making his feature debut with the classic legal drama 12 ANGRY MEN, director Sidney Lumet returned to the courtroom with this gripping portrait of a man’s quest for redem...

Directed by Gary Fleder • 2003 • United States
Starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman

One of the best film adaptations of a John Grisham novel, this gripping legal thriller pits Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman against each other as, respectively, an upstanding Southern lawyer and th...

Directed by Stanley Kramer • 1960 • United States
Starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly

One of the twentieth century’s most spectacular trials—the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which pitted the theory of evolution against creationism in a battle over intellectual freedom—is vividly dra...

Directed by Billy Wilder • 1957 • United States
Starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton

Agatha Christie’s masterful stage play gets a brilliantly entertaining screen adaptation courtesy of Billy Wilder, who deftly balances courtroom intrigue and black comedy for a triumph of st...

Directed by Sidney Lumet • 1957 • United States
Starring Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb

12 ANGRY MEN, by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system that is as riveting as it is spare, this iconic adap...

Directed by Jonathan Demme • 1993 • United States
Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas

The first major Hollywood film to address the AIDS crisis and homophobia is a groundbreaking, empathetic social drama directed with a humanist touch by Jonathan Demme. Tom Hanks won the Acad...