Justice pour tous

When we think of the great roles over Al Pacino's career, we automatically conjure up images of The Godfather I and II, Scent of A Woman, Carlito's Way and Serpico among many others. What gets little mention and is oft forgotten is Al Pacino's performance as Arthur Kirkland in "…And Justice for All." From days past and as I would watch Pacino classics, I always think back to 1979 and his portrayal of an ethical lawyer fighting for truth and justice in a not so ethical legal morass.

Thanks to AMC for bringing this movie back for new generation of movie watchers and also for a reminder of how great an actor Al Pacino is. If you have not seen "…And Justice for All," you are in for a treat. Far and away this was Al Pacino's best film role and possibly one of the greatest film roles of all time.

Too bad Hollywood was so engrossed in the morbidly depressing and cynical Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980. Head to head, Dustin Hoffman's role in Kramer vs. Kramer could not hold Al Pacino's water, but alas, the Hollywood types on most occasions vote with their backsides and not their heads.

See this Movie!!!!!

This was a very good movie. Al Pacino was fantastic. The courtroom scenes were intense and emotionally charged, I loved it!

Al Pacino was an excellent lawyer. This movie was so good because it showed him in the work place and how it effected him in his personal life. A very good movie, it's one of my favorites.

The best scene was the climax when he exploded in the courtroom and and screamed one of the most famous quotes in cinema history! 9/10

"...And Justice For All" is one of those well-intentioned movies that doesn't achieve the goal it was set out to accomplish. Having said this, the film is a good example of the way some lawyers truly do care about their clients and not intent on making a lot of money.

I now know why Al Pacino is considered one of the greatest film stars in Hollywood. With roles in "The Godfather," "Scent Of A Woman," "Heat," "Devil's Advocate" and "The Insider," Pacino has proven he is an actor with integrity and presence. The best thing about "...And Justice For All" was the true and genuine care that Pacino's character had for his clients.

The only thing I would change about this movie would be to narrow the story lines because it had a few too many to follow. With the number of subplots in this film, it was too difficult to pinpoint the main plot and enjoy the film outright.

Overall, this movie was good and I recommend it.

This movie is compelling. It is not just a supremely entertaining courtroom drama, but more so a brilliantly detailed character study. Al Pacino, predictably, is just class, and the other characters give him some very competent support. The interweaving of secondary cases with the main one is seamless, and keeps the pace moving at a pleasing level. The ending, which is so often talked about, is terrific, if a little sudden, and not totally satisfying. The script is faultless. My only criticism is that the disco soundtrack is incongruous with the serious issues at hand and at times pretty comical. But I guess the time period is perfectly evoked through it, not that the issues are exclusively relevant to the late 70s/early 80s though. 9/10.

I liked And Justice for All. I found it very entertaining and absorbing. In its satiric way, the movie is full of rich characters and plausible situations even if sometimes you can spot the cliché around the corner. Sometimes satire works as a magnifying glass to expose and better criticize something. And I believe that's what happens in this movie with all those bizarre scenes and deranged characters.

Even though Jewison focuses problems such as corruption, criticizes the danger of powerful people in the wrong places and brings up moral dilemmas about the practice of law, I believe And Justice for All is more of a satire than a serious alert to a possible decadence of the judicial system. The odd elements in the plot are one too many to see the movie strictly from its dramatic point of view: a cross-dresser client, an evidence-eating defendant, a suicidal judge, a hysterical lawyer.

In a certain way, the message of this movie reminded me the one of Mike Nichols anti-war comedy Catch-22: in order to cope with a crazy situation you have to become a little crazy. In a war scenario people fight for values like justice and order, but they also fight for power and interests; the same thing happens inside a courtroom. Some lawyers see Law as a business, some see it as a way to promote their personal careers and some see it as the opportunity given to those who have nothing else to lose.

The performances are just great, specially the ones of Jack Warden and Jeffrey Tambor. Al Pacino unquestionably steals the movie with another over-the-top performance as the lawyer willing to risk everything and delivers another memorable speech during his `opening statement'.