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 the ruthlessly unethical jury consultant attempting to tamper with the course of justice. When a young widow in New Orleans brings a civil suit against the powerful corporate consortium she holds responsible for her husband’s murder, she sets in motion a multimillion-dollar case. It’s a suit that may be won even before it begins, however, based solely on the selection, manipulation, and ultimately, the attempted “theft” of the jury.
Up Next in Courtroom Dramas
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Inherit the Wind
Directed by Stanley Kramer • 1960 • United States
Starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene KellyOne 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...
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Witness for the Prosecution
Directed by Billy Wilder • 1957 • United States
Starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles LaughtonAgatha 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...
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12 Angry Men
Directed by Sidney Lumet • 1957 • United States
Starring Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb12 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...
