Lawyers in movies: The Verdict is in Rony Seikaly

As legal counsel to the Bro Force Squad, I spend most of my time keeping the Bro’s out of trouble: fighting those major Hollywood studios against outrages copyright claims, cleaning up the bro’s “dirty laundry”, and most importantly, keeping Rachel’s restraining order against Hornassek up to date.

Somehow between dealing with their issues I can still find time to watch some of my favorite movies. For my first squad blog post, I decided I wanted to revisit some of my favorite legal movies.

Lawyer based films, like most movies about certain professions, deviate much from the life of a normal attorney.

Unfortunately, reading, writing, and overall paperwork somehow does not make for an exciting film. If there is one thing most lawyer movies have in common, it’s that the movie crescendos to the antagonist taking the witness stand against our hero lawyer. In an amazing line of questioning our villain is driven into an accidental emotional state where they blurt out their confession! Boom! Lawyered!

While almost every lawyer film ends in that manner, what makes for an excellent legal drama is what happens before. The character development, the mystery, the inevitable sex scene between co-counsels. The greatest films are the ones that are able to connect the audience to a character that triumphs over adversity, a character who was dealt a difficult and what seems like a no win situation, a character who will still choose the difficult path because it is right and because justice must always be sought.

Here are my top 5 legal themed movies-

5. Legally Blonde- Yes this made the top 5. I’m not sorry… actually if I’m sorry for anything it’s that this movie is not higher on the list. Is this movie ridiculous? Absolutely. Is it just a fun guilty pleasure? Absolutely! Once you take out the absurdity of Reese Witherspoon’s character amazingly getting into Harvard Law the movie actually shows a very realistic portrayal of law school. In what’s is known as the Socratic Method, Law professors don’t wait on someone to raise their hand, they will call upon a student at random. If you end up being picked, you better have done your readings because you will be asked to leave the class if you don’t know the answers. (This never happened to me, but many times it would have if I had been called on). Some professors would literally stick with the same student for the entire class, it was mortifying.

Reese Witherspoon plays a rich co-ed who is who is dumped by her boyfriend because he can’t see a future with an unambitious ditsy blonde. To not only prove him wrong and win him she is eager to prove looks can be deceiving. She is accepted into Harvard Law where she deals with judgment from her peers, sexual harassment from a professor and overall is just never taken seriously due to her appearance.

Legally Blonde is “Clueless” meets law school. And what man can hate the “bend…AND SNAP!” It is also refreshing to see a legal comedy which we don’t get that often.

4. Primal Fear- This may be one of the most underrated movies in my opinion. I feel it’s never mentioned or gets respect whether on the spectrum of a legal movie or just overall drama. What’s crazy about this movie is we get Edward Norton in his literal first feature film. You would not know that by watching. He puts on such an incredible performance it earned him a nomination for best supporting actor at the Oscars. I’m not sure how often someone’s first performance gets them an Oscar nomination but it has to be rare. If you haven’t seen this movie, I won’t spoil it, as the ending is absolutely thrilling.

Richard Gere is an infamous Chicago defense attorney who absolutely loves being in the headlines when he decides to pick up a murder case where a poor altar boy has been arrested and charged with the murder of a prominent Priest. There is so much more to the movie than what is on the surface and corruption is everywhere. I would almost called this a mystery/legal drama that will have you guessing till the end.

3. To Kill A Mockingbird - How has this film not be remade yet?! Between Hollywood’s love of remakes and the current climate of our country it is shocking that this one has not be reintroduced to younger audiences. This movie came out in 1962 and still stands the test of time. Gregory Peck plays, arguably, the greatest fictional attorney of all time, Atticus Finch.

Set during the depression in rural Alabama, a crippled black man has been falsely accused of rape by a white women. The mob of the city wants him hung but only Atticus Finch stands up for what he knows to be right, to fight against a whole town in the name of justice. Told through the eyes of his young daughter, it is an amazing lesson in injustice, equality, and fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.

2. A Few Good Men - One of the most quotable and historically great climax’s in movie history. This was a tough choice to put it at number two. BUT IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH, and you’re upset about its placement, WELL YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH. Honestly it’s really a tie for number one, but the number 1 movie gets a bump for once specific reason which I point out below.

Tom Cruise in the middle of his prime, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Jack Nicholson…The cast alone is enough to know how a fantastic movie this is. Tom Cruise JAG attorney in the Navy who is known as a plea attorney and has never actually tried a case. His co-counsel, played by Demi Moore, pleads with him to truly defend his clients and to not take the easy way out. This movie has it all, murder, mystery, love of country and duty. Fun fact, this movie actually based on a real military court case

1. My Cousin Vinny - This one narrowly beats “A Few Good Men” for me. The deciding factor came down to the fact that this might be the most realistic procedural legal movie out there. So much so that we actually broke this movie down in my Civil Procedure class in law school. This movie also has the greatest opening argument (and shortest) in any legal film, “Everything that guy said is bullshit!”

What’s not to love about this film? We get Joe Pesci as a fish out of water Brooklyn attorney who has not only failed the bar 6 times, but also has never won a case. He finds himself defending his cousin in a rural Alabama court on a capital murder charge. We also get a smoking Marisa Tomei. If you haven’t seen this film. Watch it. It has a little bit of everything.

Honorable mentions: 12 Angry Men, Erin Brockovich, Kramer Vs Kramer, The Paper Chase, A Time to Kill

A final piece of advice: Don’t go to law school if you think that these movies represent what your daily life would be like….it’s is much much more boring.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of the BroForceSquad. Any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this post, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is strictly prohibited

-From the desk of Rony Seikaly