Book Review Reel Justice the Court Room Goes to the Movies, Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow; Andrews and Mcmeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, May 1996, 338 Pages, $14.95
| Pages | 157 |
| Publication year | 2021 |
70 CBJ 157. BOOK REVIEW REEL JUSTICE THE COURT ROOM GOES TO THE MOVIES, Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow; Andrews and McMeel, A Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, May 1996, 338 pages, $14.95
In his collection of essays (originally lectures to Columbia University law students), Karl Llewellyn emphasizes that an appellate case may stand for many things. He challenges the students to read the assigned cases to find both the maximum and minimum precedent which might be mined out of the judicial declarations. (fn1) Two UCLA law professors, Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow, apparently taking a cue from Llewellyn, have written a book applying the case study method to films about the legal profession.
The authors have selected 69 movies and all the famous ones are there, including "I Want to Live," "The Caine Mutiny," "My Cousin Vinny," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Twelve Angry Men," and "The Verdict." As each movie is taken up, the authors give a plot summary and an analysis which discusses the legal points raised by the movie. They conclude with a "trial brief' which might give the factual origin of the plot or some insight into the director or actors. Almost every title discussed is illustrated with a photograph.
While there are serious topics raised in the legal analysis, the authors recognize that this is still entertainment and they try to be entertaining. Each movie is graded for "quality, dramatic power, and authenticity of the trial scenes ..." and awarded up to four "gavels." Under this system: "[flour gavels is a classic, three is good, two is just okay, and one means ask for a new trial." I agreed with most of the grading, but I wish Bergman and Asimow had ranked "The Verdict" a little higher (two gavels).
The serious tone is broken by humorous asides. In discussing "The Star Chamber" where several serious cases are dismissed on legal technicalities, the police and the prosecutors are left "gnashing their teeth. For the first time they realize that the Constitution was drafted by dentists." The film "On Trial" is only
an hour long. This could be considered "'a speedy trial movie.' Courts trying to reduce their backlogs should...
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