Mensonges et Faux Semblants

This is going to be one of those unfairly underrated movies. It is not a block-buster, not a mystery-driven court-drama, but a movie about life. Kate Beckinsale is more than beautiful. Don't expect her as being the acrobatic vampire Selene, or Anna Valerious, as she is not fighting Transylvanian monsters either. Nor she is a classic beauty in Pearl Harbor, or the serendipity wonder in New York's Christmas. Here, she is a divorced mother, fighting to gain a new sense of professional/personal life. And she is convincing. And a good lawyer, having to make some (difficult) morals choices. And she is convincing (did I say that already?). The movie itself has value exactly on focusing on realistic dramas. It's not about thrilling suspense of some twisting court plot. It's not about a drama of divorced parents. It tells a story that might happen. On the other hand, Nick Nolte lost some of his aesthetics. He didn't act with passion. Sometimes I felt he was just reciting his script lines. As for the movie, I had only one problem. Somehow, it did not suit them (Beckinsale, Nolte, Pellegino) to have that over-dirty language. I'm no hypocrite, I don't blush for the sake of conservative purity, but here, the bad language was overused. My personal opinion is that cinematography should pass the Samuel L. Jackson's characters' language stage. A nice and long expected surprise! Chapeau!

Once again Kate Beckinsale plays a solid, fully realized protagonist in yet another uneven but intriguing film. The Trials Of Cate McCall is an episodic courtroom drama in where the cases which defence attorney Beckinsale works kind of take a backseat to, and even reflect the issues she faces in her personal life. She's been disbarred from practising law some time ago, also losing the custody of her daughter. With the help of her ex lawyer father (a crusty, scene stealing Nick Nolte), she begins the long road to personal and professional redemption, starting with a tricky case involving the alleged violent sexual assault of a wayward girl (a deft, unsettling Ana Schafer). Sounds great, right? Unfortunately not. It's certainly interesting, but it squander valuable time on scenes which should be brisk and tightly wound, providing bloated segments where there could be high drama. When it's solid it's solid though, especially with Beckinsale's work. Supporting turns include James Cromwell as a not so honest judge, Clancy Brown as a stern D.A., Mark Pellegrino as a crass detective implicated in the heinous crime, and other work from Dale Dickey, Isiah Washington and Kathy Baker. Despite its inconsistencies, it manages to hold interest through selected performances that are marvellous, and some perfectly timed third act plot turns that sheds new light on everything that came before it. As far as courtroom flicks go, you can do both a lot better and a lot worse in checking this one out.

Review: I really enjoyed this intense courtroom drama about a top lawyer who takes on a case to try and free a girl from jail after being sentenced to life for murder. Although the evidence against the accused is full of lies and deceit, there still lies the question about the girls true innocence. I liked the different twists and turns throughout the movie and the performances made the movie intense and emotional. You really don't know what direction this movie is going to take because the lawyer is also a recovering alcoholic who is fighting to get custody of her little girl. When everything becomes a bit too much for the stressed out lawyer, she turns to Nick Note for guidance, who was a great choice by the director. Anyway, I didn't lose my interest throughout the movie because it's not predictable and it doesn't seem to drag, so I can honestly say that it's worth a watch. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: It's weird watching Kate Beckinsale in a straight role after watching her shooting zombies and kicking butt in the Underworld franchise. She has starred in many top movies like The Aviator, Pearl Harbor and Total Recall but she still seems to stay under the Hollywood radar. Nick Nolte has also been out of the spotlight lately, which is a shame because I always rated him as an actor. Anyway, the whole cast performed well in this intense drama, but it didn't seem to have got a major release so it's another one of those films that will be under rated.

Budget: $7million Worldwide Gross: N/A

I recommend this movie to people who are into there intense courtroom dramas about a big time lawyer who has some serious personal issues but she still takes on a case to try and save a girl from her life sentence for murder. 6/10

This film had some potential, but a lack of decent characters other than our heroine hampers its dramatic development.

Kate Beckinsale plays the title role in The Trials Of Cate McCall and she's an alcoholic lawyer whose main confidante is her AA sponsor Nick Nolte who looks like a hippie refugee from the Sixties. She's on a kind of probation from the bar association and gets assigned a real dog of a case from Anna Annissimova who's in jail for a brutal murder with lesbian overtones.

Wouldn't you know it Beckinsale becomes a true believer and uncovers enough procedural errors in front of Judge James Cromwell an old law professor of her's to get the verdict set aside. The cops don't take it well and she's put through quite a ringer. Beckinsale is also having custodial issues with her ex-husband.

Beckinsale's comeback is assured, but the film is far from over.

I think with a bit better writing this could have been a major triumph. Beckinsale's character was too self indulgent and inclined to spend a lot of time on the pity pot. Nolte was interesting however, his character obviously based on William Kunstler.

Passable drama, but nothing more.

Cate is an incredible fine lawyer with some serious problems with alcohol that is searching a way to recover the right to see her daughter. Since she was a fine lawyer before being alcoholic she accept a new case to defend an innocent girl that was wrongfully accused and in the process prove that she is fit to be a mother.

That's about the whole idea of the movie, but behind the seemingly obvious drama and court case movie there is a deep web of lies hence the title the movie gets in other countries.

For the most part, the movie plays Kate as Cate struggling to understand the rules of the system and her life and the movie plays for the majority of the time as a drama, but, there are some parts that plays with suspense and some later turnarounds.

The movie is not brilliant in the script department, you can actually guess the outcome of all, but being honest, it doesn't pretend to play as a suspense movie either.

All the court case parts, the innocent girl, the threats and the lies are just secondary plot ideas to picture what is really important here and that's the life of Cate.

This is a very fine movie in the drama department and one you should seriously consider if you're into this genre. The acting of Miss Kate Beckinsale and Nick Nolte are one of the best moments through the movie and proves that Kate is a very good actress.

I love court case movies and this one didn't disappoint and a movie about a flawed main protagonist path to redemption is always a topic i'm fond of.

An easy 6 out of 10