An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is forced to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial under the threat of being disbarred.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.4/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.86/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Norman Jewison
Production
Columbia Pictures
Cast
Al Pacino, Jack Warden, John Forsythe, Lee Strasberg, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson, Jeffrey Tambor, Sam Levene, Robert Christian, Thomas G. Waites, Larry Bryggman, Dominic Chianese, Victor Arnold, Vincent Beck, Michael Gorrin, Baxter Harris, Joe Morton, Alan North, Tom Quinn, Beverly Sanders
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, angry legal drama with a big, volatile Al Pacino performance and a genuinely corrosive view of institutional corruption. It’s messy by design, but the courtroom pressure-cooker energy and moral outrage make it memorable.
Best for
viewers who like 1970s courtroom dramas
fans of intense, speechifying lead performances
people interested in legal corruption and institutional hypocrisy
audiences who enjoy bleak but entertaining moral dramas
Skip if
you want a clean procedural with tidy resolutions
you dislike heightened acting and courtroom theatrics
you prefer subtle, low-key legal dramas
you’re looking for a comforting or uplifting watch
Overview
Norman Jewison turns this into a furious, almost absurdist attack on the justice system, where every institution looks compromised and every ethical choice comes with a trap attached. The film’s reputation rests heavily on Al Pacino, and for good reason: he plays the lawyer’s exhaustion, rage, and self-disgust at full volume without ever losing the character’s humanity.
Worth noting
What makes it stick is the way it mixes outrage with dark comedy and genuine discomfort. The courtroom scenes are theatrical, but the movie understands that legal corruption is often banal, procedural, and self-protecting rather than monstrous in a cinematic way. That gives the whole thing a bitter, lived-in edge.
Bottom line
It’s not perfectly balanced, and some of the performances lean broad, but the movie’s moral pressure never lets up. If you like your legal dramas loud, cynical, and emotionally combustible, this is an easy recommendation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Muriel · 2482 likes
it’s got everything i like: al pacino
renee fournier (3.5★) · 2008 likes
al pacino: [yells]
me: academy award!
maddy (3.5★) · 1648 likes
i truly would give my right arm to touch 70s al pacino's hair
zoe (4.5★) · 1441 likes
HE JUST COMPLETED HIS OPENING STATEMENT
Felipe F. (4★) · 1371 likes
Two hours of Al Pacino being done with everyone's shit. Absolutely magnificent.
1993 · Drama, Mystery, Thriller · 2h 34m · R · Curator 4.3/10 (284.1K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus
A slicker but still effective story of a lawyer realizing the institution he joined is rotten at the core.