Justiça Para Todos

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.

We don't get many of these types of movies anymore. Studios worry about their commercial appeal (ie. appeal to teenagers on a date) and give us more gory thrillers or rom-coms instead, but back in the 70s the occasional satiric drama would sneak past the studio committee types and hit the box office like a blot of lightning. Part of the reason for this was the presence of successful writers of hard hitting social satire like Paddy Chayefsky among the front of rank of Hollywood scripters and another reason was powerhouse actors like Pacino. Like his earlier hit Dog Day Afternoon, here the camera stays on him like a spotlight as he fights a doomed fight with every breath in his body.

This movie took on a serious subject: a Justice System so lost in its own bureaucracy and politics that it could no longer dispense the thing it was created for, ie. justice. Pacino ran with it in classic fashion, ranting, foaming at the mouth, practically rabid with indignation and frustration. It's a powerhouse performance, not subtle by any means, but affecting, maddening, galvanizing. By the time the movie's over, you want to make this guy governor of New York.

The script by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson is the film's greatest strength. Years later I could still quote from it line for line. It is funny, clever and insane by turns with enough wildly believable ironies for ten courtroom dramas. Corrupt supposed officers of the court spout on about ethics yet are not above blackmail. The wealthy and connected enjoy privileges, while the bureaucracy grinds up the unsuspecting.

Director Jewison gave everything a professional polish, but then wisely stayed out of the way of his star. This was Pacino's stage and he owned it.

Be prepared to have your world rocked. There are few modern actors who would even attempt a role like this. They want the audience to like them. Pacino just wants to be heard. And he'll yell to make that happen.

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!!!!!

In this movie Al Pacino once again proves my point that he (Al Pacino) is one of the greatest actors off all time. By 1979 he had already pretty much proven this but never the less this is one of his best films yet. Even without Al Pacino this movie would be great.(Not near as great but never the less)I mean it is also very well directed and the screen play alone is magnificently written. So if you are a Pacino fan, or even if your not a Pacino fan i am telling you, that to die without seeing this movie is a sin.

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'.