Plot: What’s it about?
Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) has real problems with what he sees within the justice system, which is a serious issue, since he is a lawyer by trade. He sees a lot of criminals walk free due to loopholes and innocent people take their places, which leaves him with a slanted view on the modern definition of justice. He knows that some judges will alter their verdicts, regardless of evidence in the case, if some cash is slipped into their pockets, which also slants the system in his eyes. In the midst of all this mess, Kirkland feels as though he can make a difference. He thinks by sticking to his guns and working as a reputable lawyer, he can impact things, even if on a small level. But when he is sucked into a high profile case, whose judge has a history with Kirkland, he finds himself drawn between his personal dedications and his career. He is defending a well respected judge (John Forsythe), who is accused of rape and assault on a young woman. As if that weren’t enough, the guilt of his client is well known, even to the judge on duty and Kirkland is having sheer inner turmoil over the issue. When the time comes to make his choice, will there be a right and wrong answer for Kirkland?
The genre of courtroom dramas doesn’t see many releases these days, but there are a lot of excellent examples for fans to look into. Among those at the top of the list is Norman Jewison’s …And Justice For All, which features a terrific cast, led by Al Pacino. When you take the talent involved and mix in a very solid turn in the screenplay department, you just know this movie will be good and it is. I think the source material is very strong, but the performances are so good, that they often steal the show and really make the movie work. Pacino is tremendous, as are supporting players Jack Warden and Christine Lahti, who made her feature film debut here. The film features little in terms of action, adventure, special effects, or other tools used by today’s film to entice the audience, but it has stuff that is even better. This film has great acting, superb direction from Jewison, and above that, a solid storyline with well developed characters, which allows the performers to go all out and make the material work so well. I give this film a high recommendation and though the disc offers scant supplements, it is still well worth the cash, if you ask me.
I think we have come to expect excellence from Al Pacino’s performances, but I happen to prefer his older films to the more recent ones. I think he still handles himself very well and powers home his roles, but my personal choices for his best would be in his earlier works. In …And Justice For All, Pacino takes on the role of a rather normal person, which he doesn’t do much of late and really runs with it, very impressive all around. He plays this role in a very natural state, but still enriches it with loads of passion and energy, which are vital elements for this film to work. We don’t often think as much about more simple characters like this one, but Pacino gives it depth and really pulls all the potential from the part. You can also see Pacino is such films as Scarface, Any Given Sunday, The Godfather, Carlito’s Way, Heat, and The Insider. The excellent supporting cast here includes Jack Warden (Dirty Work, The Replacements), Sam Levene (Last Embrace), Christine Lahti (Hideaway, Running On Empty), John Forsythe (Madame X, Scrooged), and Craig T. Nelson (The Skulls, Devil’s Advocate). The director of this film is Norman Jewison, who also helmed such films as Rollerball, The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar, Other People’s Money, Fiddler on the Roof, and Moonstruck.
Video: How does it look?
…And Justice For All is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a full frame edition included on the disc’s flip side. This transfer is more than adequate, but a few rough spots keep the score down in the end. A couple of darker scenes look pretty bad, with heavy grain and unbalanced black levels. But these scenes are infrequent and shouldn’t scare you off, as usually the contrast is well struck and shows minimal problems. The colors seem a little on the muted side, but not to an extreme degree and flesh tones appear natural also. I saw frequent debris evident on the source print, but again this wasn’t too bad in the grand visual scheme.
Audio: How does it sound?
This disc includes a mono track and while I wasn’t too impressed, there’s not much to complain about. Of course, the limits of mono have an impact here, but I think few instances emerge in which we really need a surround track for this film. I think the score would be much more effective, but since there’s minimal high impact audio here, this mono track seems to cover all the bases well enough. I heard no age related problems, such as harshness, while the dialogue remains clean and crisp throughout the duration of the movie. This disc also includes mono tracks in French and Spanish, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I was pleased to find an audio commentary here, which features director Norman Jewison and a worthwhile listen. Jewison often opens up the production and various choices made on the film, but he also compliments the actors and crew a lot, which drags down the track somewhat. But in the end, this is a track well worth giving a spin to, as it contains a lot of great information about this picture. The disc also contains the film’s theatrical trailer and some talent files.
