Criminal Law
Criminal Law
R | 28 April 1989 (USA)
Criminal Law Trailers

A rising young attorney successfully defends a man accused of murder, only to have the same type of murder then happen again. Right away the previously defended man hires the attorney again, and although the attorney is quite certain that he is the killer, he agrees to again defend him... much to the consternation of his friends. However, he explains that by being his attorney he will be better able to catch the man in a mistake... and on this the rest of the film develops, with the killer playing a cat and mouse game with the attorney until, at last, they both must recognize that they are not all that different.

Reviews
inioi

Martin Campbell's movies has become quite commercial since early 90's. But "Criminal Law" is a decent movie which possible please thrillers lovers.The film making is very effective, and Jerry Goldsmith's score along the fantastic photography of Phil Meheux creates a distressing atmosphere.About acting, i'm not usually amazed by celebrities performance (Gary Oldman ,Kevin Bacon) but some of the supporting cast. In this case, i have to highlight the Karen Young performance. She is a very interesting actress who had roles in " 9 1/2 weeks","Birdy" or "Maria 's Lovers".The plot is interesting and has good development, but the ending has a lack of credibility. Yet the movie deserves to be watched, specially for thriller's lovers.7/10

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Robert J. Maxwell

A woman police officer, Tess Harper, shoots a running man square through the head at a distance of fifty feet with a short-barreled revolver. Now, if you can believe that, you will get more out of this movie than I did.It's not an especially BAD movie, in the sense that at least it's not insulting. And in fact the story had real potential. Gary Oldman of the droopy face is a high-end Boston attorney hired by filthy rich Kevin Bacon, who has been accused of serial murders involving diapers stuffed in the victims' mouths. (Don't ask.) Oldman is a Harvard graduate and therefore brilliant. He saves Bacon's bacon, to general rejoicing.Without too much further ado, he finds that Bacon was guilty after all when the murders begin all over again and Bacon practically confesses. The problem is that there is no way to convict Bacon, and Oldman, out of an excess of chagrin, takes it upon himself to investigate the new cases and try to find inculpatory evidence.The acting is pretty good on everyone's part. The dialog has some startlingly effective lines. The performers look and speak as one would expect such characters to -- except that the murderer, Kevin Bacon, stares ghoulishly at every dramatic moment. If he blinked his eyes AT ALL during the movie, I must have been blinking myself.I don't know if that unblinking, murderous stare was Bacon's idea. I hope not. I suspect it was at the least encouraged by the director, Martin Campbell, because the fiend who is unable to nictitate is a cliché -- and the movie is full of clichés.That life-saving miraculous shot by Tess Harper is only the climactic example. One of the most overused stings has an innocent person creeping about in a dark room, searching for something he or, more often she, shouldn't be looking for. All is quiet. We tremble along with the intruder. Then a clash of dissonance in the score, and a hand reaches in from out of the frame and grabs the person's shoulder, or she bumps into a figure standing in the shadows, or she hears a noise and whirls her flashlight around to reveal the face of a threatening intruder, or a pair of arms wrap around her neck from behind. I counted at least four uses of this hoary device before I stopped looking for them.I'll mention just one other. A terrified man stumbles through a public park during a downpour, trips over some brush, rolls helplessly down the side of a hill, and comes to rest on a mutilated human body.Enough.It's too bad, because there are signs of intelligence glimmering through this hackneyed murk. Your Honor -- ladies and gentleman of the jury -- I direct your attention to the anecdote told by the dying librarian in the hospital, the little parable about Justice Brandeis and the shadow of the law. Corroborating evidence, which I now introduce as Exhibit Number Two, is provided by Kevin Bacon's fable, the one in the punt, of the man caught whipping God's dog. Nobody brings up Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism versus Kant's categorical imperatives, although they might have, but thank God they didn't.A shame it was all thrown away in the service of titillating the audience through the use of commercial tricks.

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pavanseo09

In 1988, Henry Wade was licensed by the State Bar of Texas and he's also a member of the Dallas Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Serving as an assistant district attorney in Dallas and Bell counties from 1989 to 1991, Wade was the felony prosecutor in over 100 jury trials, including murder, aggravated robbery and drug distribution, and from 1995 to 1998, he served as judge of County Criminal Court No.1 in Dallas County. Since 2007, Wade has been a member of The Wade Law Firm, as a general trial attorney with an emphasis on criminal litigation at both the state and federal levels. He is qualified as an expert witness and has testified in criminal law matters.http://www.newlawyer.com

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Movie Nuttball

Criminal Law is a different thrilling movie starring Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Tess Harper, Karen Young, and Joe Don Baker! All of these actors and actresses performed very well especially Bacon and Oldman! Criminal Law is a very thrilling and is very interesting film. You never know what is going to happen next and the characters are very colorful in My opinion. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is very good and fits the film very well. Kevin Bacon plays a very good villain here and it something else how he is in this picture. Oldman has a fantastic performance! If you are looking for a great entertaining and thrilling crime film with a good cast, excellent acting, and many thrills then I strongly recommend this film that today!

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