One of the most unfortunate casualties of Hollywood’s transition away from producing mid-budget movies for adults is the lack of great courtroom dramas. While the past decade has certainly produced a few notable favorites like The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Lincoln Lawyer, Mangrove, Dark Waters, and this year’s The Mauritanian, courtroom dramas are no longer the blockbuster star vehicles that were so popular amidst the ‘90s.
The series of John Grisham adaptations throughout the ‘90s includes many of the greatest legal thrillers, but there’s been a wide variety of great movies starring lawyers throughout the history of cinema. Here are the eleven greatest courtroom dramas of all-time, ranked.
11. A Civil Action
A Civil Action wasn’t based on a Grisham work, but Steven Zallian’s adaptation of the bestselling Jonathan Harr novel shares many of the same qualities. You get a whip-smart, charismatic lawyer in John Travolta’s Jan Schlichtmann, a ruthless corporate attorney in Robert Duvall’s Jerry Facher, and an earnestly emotional conclusion reflecting on the devastating human costs of bypassing safety concerns within a corporation. Schlichtmann investigates a series of water contamination cases in Woburn, Massachusetts that have caused children to develop leukemia, and Zaillian's meticulous wordplay is sensitive to the local residents overwhelmed by the class action suit.
10. The Rainmaker
One of the very best Grisham adaptations, The Rainmaker is directed by Francis Ford Coppola with absolute sincerity. Matt Damon stars as the adorably earnest Rudy Baylor, a fresh-faced University of Memphis graduate who is the ultimate underdog. He’s paired with an idiosyncratic co-counsel (Danny Devito’s Deck Shifflet), and sets up an independent practice to take on a complex insurance case. The Great Benefit corporation has denied a bone marrow transplant that could’ve saved the life of 22-year-old Donny Ray, and Donny’s parents Dot (Mary Kay Place) and Buddy Black (Red West) can only afford an attorney who has never tried a case. Damon’s idealism is inspiring, and Jon Voight delivers a scenery-chewing performance as the villainous Great Benefit defense attorney Leo F. Drummond.
9. Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick frequently explored the perspectives of soldiers with Fear and Desire, Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon, and Full Metal Jacket, but 1957’s Paths of Glory examined the World War I era through the construct of a legal thriller. In one of his best performances ever, Kirk Douglas stars as French Colonel Dax, a by-the-books commanding officer whose battalion is accused of cowardice when they refuse to enter an unwinnable battle in no man’s land. Dax passionately defends three men who are basically chosen at random to serve as an example to the rest of the troops. It's one of Kubrick’s most cutting satires of authority, and the sad return to "normalcy" in the film’s final moments are chilling.
8. Primal Fear
Primal Fear boasts one of the greatest plot twists of the ‘90s, but even outside of the big reveal, it has a fantastic moral quandary for a legal thriller. Defense attorney Martin Vale (Richard Gere) is tasked with defending the teenage altar boy Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) accused of murdering the beloved local Archbishop Rushman. He’s faced with a series of difficult decisions when he uncovers information that could forever alter public perception of the deceased priest, but also learns that Aaron is more than he’s letting on. Norton is entirely convincing as the unreliable defendant in one of his three debut performances in 1996.
7. Kramer vs. Kramer
Not every aspect of the 1979 Best Picture winner has aged well, but in terms of sensitively depicting both parties in a child custody case, Kramers vs. Kramer was a breakthrough. Dustin Hoffman’s workaholic father Ted Kramer is far from an idealized male victim, and the film is willing to show how he only gradually accepts the responsibility of caring for his young son Billy (Justin Henry). His wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) feels helpless amidst an unhappy marriage, and while writer/director Robert Benton is ultimately siding with Ted, Streep’s emotional performances makes it impossible to discount her perspective. Benton showed the impact that the character assassinations that occur throughout the trial affect both.
6. Erin Brokovich
Few filmmakers know how to encapsulate a performer’s star power like Steven Soderbergh, and Erin Brokovich is the role of Julia Roberts’ career. She’s confident and charismatic while being entirely earnest, and Roberts’ inherent charisma is necessary given Soderbergh’s signature attention to detail depicting the nuances of the real estate case. Based on the incredible true story, the film follows a single mother who works her way through law school to wage a case against the energy provider Pacific Gas and Electric Company for groundwater contamination. It was part of Soderbergh’s incredible 2000 double feature with Traffic, although in hindsight he probably should have taken home the Best Director Oscar for Erin Brokovich instead.
5. The People vs. Larry Flynt
While many ‘90s legal thrillers enjoyed exploring an inspirational fight against an authoritative force, The People vs. Larry Flynt tackles a conflict more nuanced than some corporate goons. Milos Forman’s biopic of the notorious pornography publisher Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson) explores the intersections between religion, media, and patriotism; “freedom of speech” is more complicated in practice than it is as a slogan. Harrelson has a blast with Flynt’s idiosyncrasies without turning him into a caricature, and he doesn’t idealize the nature of what he actually does. Flynt’s combative showmanship is paired well with his straight-laced lawyer Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton) as Isaacman faces the tribulations of defending the most hated man in the country.
4. A Few Good Men
The idealism of Aaron Sorkin’s political philosophies has earned necessary reconsideration in 2021, but A Few Good Men hasn’t aged a day. Sorkin’s signature snappy mix of meticulous process and sharp humor is on full display, and Rob Reiner is unafraid to play up the theatricality if it's called for. In a decade where he was experimenting with more experimental roles, Tom Cruise reminds why he’s such an endearing movie star across four decades with Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a straightforward but nonetheless compelling idealistic lawyer tasked with defending two U.S. Marines that are charged with the death of a fellow trainee. Cruise and Demi Moore make for a fun central duo, but it's Jack Nicholson’s “You can’t handle the truth!” that stands the test of time.
3. To Kill A Mockingbird
Simply one of the greatest films ever made, the 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is among the classics of cinema that hasn’t aged a day. Ranked the greatest screen hero of all-time by the American Film Industry, Gregory Peck’s performance as Atticus Finch is the embodiment of human goodness. The perspective of his daughter Scout (Mary Badham) allows us to see Finch fully as a living, breathing person and not just the mouthpiece of a message movie, and his final monologue is one of the greatest in screen history. There’s not much more praise that can be heaped upon the ever-relevant To Kill A Mockingbird other than it's just one of the movies you need to watch.
2. In the Name of the Father
The grueling impact that slow legal procedure has on defendants has rarely felt more gripping than it does with Jim Sheridan’s Irish classic In the Name of the Father. Set amidst the tensions between the IRA and British Army during the Belfast riots of 1974, the film tells the true story of Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his father Patrick (Pete Postlethwaite) and their wrongful imprisonment lasting fifteen years. It’s infuriating to watch the forced confessions, lack of evidence, and general incompetence that prolong the father-son duo’s sentence. Day-Lewis was in an interesting spot in his career where there was a heartthrob energy to his unparalleled dedication, but Postlethwaite manages to uplift him with his unflinching assertion of his innocence.
1. 12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men is the definitive chamber piece. Legal thrillers often focus on the mounting of evidence, the frequency of hearings, but the process of reaching the final decision is all that 12 Angry Men needs to examine how exactly the process works, and what its benefits and demerits are. Twelve jurors hold a man’s fate in their hands; they each bring their own insights, prejudices, and beliefs, which they debate extensively without even knowing each other by name. 12 Angry Men features one of the great ensembles of all time, dexterously balancing the screen time between the characters. The source material of Reginald Rose’s stage material is brilliant enough in its own right, but it's Sidney Lumet’s framing that creates iconic imagery within the confines of a small courthouse room.