This movie about a charismatic defense attorney has everything going for it but it does not pay off.
James Woods plays a radical left leaning lawyer (Eddie Dodd) who specialises in cases of illegal search warrants and wire taps calling them, a threat to the social well being of all individuals in a democracy. He ends up defending mostly drug dealers for possession and getting them off with his charismatic charm.
Along comes a Korean family who asks Dodd to help free her son (of course he is played by a Japanese guy) who they say was framed for a gang hit in Chinatown. It doesn't look good considering the guy has already killed a Nazi in prison in self defence. Dodd tells a new young graduate attorney played by Robert Downey Jr. that he doesn't defend murder cases cause he says everyone is guilty. But as Downey's character digs deeper they discover the case is not all solid as it appears. Thus we are headed for a show trial that involves Dodd trying to save an innocent client. If he fails the guy will be in prison for another 40 years.
I like Woods, he is one of my favourites actors, but the problem with this film is that there is no development in the characters. It rushes to fast through the story as the 2 lawyers bounce around, the morgue, the evidence room, the prison, the office etc.. When certain scenes happen that show a little inside of the character persona.. eg. Dodd smoking pot, a discussion with a coke addict after he's been let off, they are merly just shown and not discussed in its relevance.
The perfect example is a scene outside the courthouse early on in the film, where Dodd is talking with his client he succesfuly defended. The client says.
"That was some impressive bull***t you pulled off in there"
Wodds says something meaningless and unmemorable.
Then the guys walks to his sports car all happy, with his girlfriend all dressed in a fur sitting there waiting for him. An impressive meaningful scene but its not used properly. And we never get any REAL idea why Downey's character (a young promising lawyer who turned down major jobs to work for Dodd) wants to be with Dodd who smokes pot all the time, or why Dodd does the work that he does. There is no doubt a reason but the film doesn't go into it, and that's the biggest flaw.
Plus the final climax of the trial is overblown and handed very poorly. It is very unrealistic, and a let down in the end.
Rating 4 out of 10.
James Woods plays a radical left leaning lawyer (Eddie Dodd) who specialises in cases of illegal search warrants and wire taps calling them, a threat to the social well being of all individuals in a democracy. He ends up defending mostly drug dealers for possession and getting them off with his charismatic charm.
Along comes a Korean family who asks Dodd to help free her son (of course he is played by a Japanese guy) who they say was framed for a gang hit in Chinatown. It doesn't look good considering the guy has already killed a Nazi in prison in self defence. Dodd tells a new young graduate attorney played by Robert Downey Jr. that he doesn't defend murder cases cause he says everyone is guilty. But as Downey's character digs deeper they discover the case is not all solid as it appears. Thus we are headed for a show trial that involves Dodd trying to save an innocent client. If he fails the guy will be in prison for another 40 years.
I like Woods, he is one of my favourites actors, but the problem with this film is that there is no development in the characters. It rushes to fast through the story as the 2 lawyers bounce around, the morgue, the evidence room, the prison, the office etc.. When certain scenes happen that show a little inside of the character persona.. eg. Dodd smoking pot, a discussion with a coke addict after he's been let off, they are merly just shown and not discussed in its relevance.
The perfect example is a scene outside the courthouse early on in the film, where Dodd is talking with his client he succesfuly defended. The client says.
"That was some impressive bull***t you pulled off in there"
Wodds says something meaningless and unmemorable.
Then the guys walks to his sports car all happy, with his girlfriend all dressed in a fur sitting there waiting for him. An impressive meaningful scene but its not used properly. And we never get any REAL idea why Downey's character (a young promising lawyer who turned down major jobs to work for Dodd) wants to be with Dodd who smokes pot all the time, or why Dodd does the work that he does. There is no doubt a reason but the film doesn't go into it, and that's the biggest flaw.
Plus the final climax of the trial is overblown and handed very poorly. It is very unrealistic, and a let down in the end.
Rating 4 out of 10.