The Trial

Given the fact that this appeared on a Christian channel, our house expected this to have something ultimately it did not have. May I suggest, you do NOT waste your time. There isn't 1 redeeming feature within the 95 minutes of this film which is actually hugely disappointing and has little to do with Christianity. There are many many other things you can find to do in the 95 minutes this lasts which will be more beneficial than sitting through it. The ending, in my view, isn't really that believeable

Retired lawyer Mac (Modine) receives a telephone call from a judge who wants him to defend Pete Thompson (Wayne) who was arrested for killing Angela, his girl friend, and he has no memory of what happened that fateful night.

This has all the feel of a made-for-TV movie, but very slow, perhaps too slow. We wait, too often, for characters to say their lines to a point we get tired of waiting and we scream out the lines we think are forthcoming. And, most times we are correct.

We understand about predictability, and we go along with it because we know that it's in the telling that the story works. But, here it was just too slow. Maybe that is why Mac's legal assistant, Mindy, goes somewhat overboard with her exuberance which was a complete contrast from everyone else. In other words she was too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when that was not called for, but the director allowed it. I thought she was annoying because of it, but, maybe she knew this needed some life. She wasn't wrong. Some may think she was a breath of fresh air in here. Hmmm………….

The clues were good, but there was no suspense or tension, and for a courtroom drama that hurts big time. Some logic flew out the window at times. Can't mention what logic as that gives away too much. Sorry (but it had much to do with motive, shhhhhh………..). The audience was forgotten. You know, the more I think about it, maybe this wasn't good enough to be a made-for-TV movie. At least I see tension and suspense in many TV dramas. Here everything was monotone, low-key, level, bland. Well, except for Mindy, of course.

Violence: Yes, very little. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

If one sees The Trial on DVD or on a television broadcast, hasten to assure yourselves you will not be seeing the Orson Welles film The Trial or a remake thereof. If you see it stars Matthew Modine than make sure you catch it.

The film opens with Modine who has been unable to come to grips with the death of his wife and children ready to blow the top of his head off with a revolver. As he's ready to do the deed, a phone call comes.

It's from Judge Rance Howard who wants to get Modine back in the among the living and in the practice of his profession. He appoints him the defense attorney of young Randy Wayne who is accused of the murder of his sweetheart, the daughter of a prominent family in the area. He plied her with 'roofies' to loosen her inhibitions and he's taken them himself. When he came down he finds himself with her dead body and no memory of the crime at all.

He gets all his courtroom skills back, it's like riding a bicycle, once learned it all comes back. But this is a tough case and he needs the assistance of psychologist Claire Carey, research assistant Nikki Deloach and most of all Robert Forster his late wife's brother for some heavy muscle and a bit of detective work. The answer is quite a bit more involved than a case of 'roofies' gone bad.

Modine who also produced this gives a carefully delineated performance of a lawyer being brought back to life in his profession and every day living. In the end he has reason to thank the Deity for being spared in the tragedy that overtook his family.

The Trial has the look and feel of a television pilot and I'm sure Matthew Modine is trying to sell it to one of the networks. I do hope he succeeds.

Slow and not particularly well acted, "The Trial" stars Matthew Modine in what was possibly a TV pilot.

Modine, one of the producers of this drama, plays Mac, an attorney who has been unable to cope with the horrible deaths of his wife and sons in a car accident. He has not been practicing law and in fact, is about to blow his brains out when a call comes in from a judge (Rance Howard) who wants him to take a case. A young man has been accused of giving a woman drugs and then killing her.

Mac reluctantly takes this on, coming up against a prosecutor (Bob Gunton) who asks for the death penalty. Mac hires an investigator (Robert Forster) and a psychiatrist (Clare Carey) to see what they can find out about what happened and about the psychological makeup of the man himself.

Nothing original about this film or the story. Modine gives a nice performance, as does Forster, one of my favorite actors. The rest of the acting was not impressive, nor was the direction. It possibly had the makings of a TV series, though, with some better pacing and scripts.

It's so hard to find a movie lately that is;

• easy to follow
• dialogue you can actually hear and understand
• a good story
• not dropping continuous, solicitous profanities for no apparent reason
• not flashing around in some bizarre time warp
• has a definitive ending that doesn't result in you wanting that small part of your life back.

It isn't a blockbuster but didn't need to be. It is entertaining and we enjoyed it.