5 Favorite Trial Movies:

 

I have lived in South Dakota now for a year and 5 months. Back in October right on the day of the 26 birthday I received my papers to serve as a juror. I couldn't believe it! My husband has lived here for 3 years and never has been summoned, and I have friends that have lived here their entire lives and have never gotten the call to duty. I will say that as much as I complained about getting selected that there is a part of me that was excited. I LOVE movies that deal with trials, they are my favorite kinds, even above romantic comedies.

Yesterday was my first time actually going into court for jury selection and it happened to be for a big case for what the size of our town is. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the selection so for me it was an interesting process not to mention the best people watching I’ve been able to do in awhile… I miss the boardwalk in the summers, they always bring out Delaware’s best. However, jury selection did it’s picking for me. I couldn’t believe how some people dressed! Some looked as if they rolled out of bed and slicked back their hair 5 minutes before showing up to court. Others of use in our professional attire. Looking back now, maybe this was a strategy for not being picked for the trial? Look as gross as possible so it seems that you just don’t care about being there… some how I believe that those people dress like that every day though. Anyway, I’m trying to be positive about the experience, I’m glad I wasn’t chosen since it is a criminal case regarding child molestation. I know I could be impartial and view the case through to the end and make a decision but listening to witnesses in real life compared to my movies is something I think would bring me to tears.

My brother and I LOVE flicks and always compare the movies we have seen and rate them. He is pretty good at selecting movies but I have a knack for the dramatic ones. If you’re into trial movies here are some of my favorites to put on your viewing list:

#1: A Time to Kill (1996)

* My all time favorite movie! First time I ever saw the gorgeous Mathew McConaughey on screen.

The entire film is heartbreaking but Matthew McConaughey's closing remarks in this film are the epitome of tear-jerker. The film, set in the Deep South in Mississippi, tells the story of the rape of a young black girl by two white men, who are then murdered by the girl's father, and the subsequent trial of the father who's played by Samuel L. Jackson. It's a star-studded cast: McConaughey, Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer and Donald Sutherland and Ashley Judd.

#2: Runaway Jury ( 2003)

This film is all about jury selection. Wendell Rohr, played by Dustin Hoffman, is taking on the gun lobby. The gun lobby, however, has hired an infamous jury consultant called Rankin Fitch (played by Gene Hackman). Nicholas Easter (played by John Cusack) is a juror with an ulterior motive.

#3: A Few Good Men (1992)

In the film with by far and away the most famous court scene ever, A Few Good Men tells the tale of two low-ranking Marines from Guantanamo Bay who face court after the death of anoth­er marine because they were ordered to carry out a “code red,” which went wrong. The Marines are defended by earnest JAG lawyers (played by Tom Cruise and Demi Moore), who face off against Col. Nathan Jessep (Jack Nicholson).

#4: Philadelphia (1993)

Starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, Philadelphia was groundbreaking for being "one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia." In the film, Tom Hanks plays an attorney who sues his former employer after they fire him because he is sick. Washington plays his lawyer.

#5: Murder in the First (1995)

An eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.

 

 

There you have it! I’m sure my brother would also agree on my selection. Did you also catch that most of these trial movies were in the early 1990’s? I guess the vampire movies hadn’t caught on yet. ;)