…And Justice for All (film)
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| ...And Justice For All | |
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 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Norman Jewison |
| Produced by | Norman Jewison Patrick J. Palmer |
| Written by | Valerie Curtin Barry Levinson |
| Starring | Al Pacino John Forsythe Christine Lahti Jack Warden Lee Strasberg |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Victor J. Kemper |
| Editing by | John F. Burnett |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 29, 1979 |
| Running time | 119 min. |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| IMDb • Allmovie | |
...And Justice For All is a 1979 film directed by Norman Jewison. The movie stars Al Pacino, Jack Warden, Lee Strasberg, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson and Thomas G. Waites. It was also 75-year old character actor Sam Levene's final film, after a 40+ year acting career. The movie was written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson.
This film includes a well-known scene in which Kirkland shouts at Judge Rayford, "I'm out of order? You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They're out of order!" The closing courtroom scene was filmed on the first take. The film shows many scenes of downtown Baltimore, including the courthouse area, a scene running around the Washington Monument/Mount Vernon Place, and Fort McHenry.
...And Justice For All received two Academy Award nominations, for the best actor in a leading role (Pacino) and for best original screenplay (Curtin and Levinson). Pacino also received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. This film represented the second time Pacino was nominated for these awards in a movie in which he acted alongside his famed acting teacher, Lee Strasberg, the other being The Godfather Part II.
The title is the last four words of the Pledge of Allegiance.
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[edit] Plot
Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) is an angry, righteous young public defender in Baltimore. As the film opens, he is accused of contempt of court for having thrown a punch on judge Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe), while arguing the case of an indigent defendant, Jeff McCullaugh, (Thomas G. Waites) who was mistaken for a killer and has already endured one and half years in jail, awaiting trial. Though McCullaugh was apparently innocent, Judge Fleming the day of trial refused, due to a minor technicality, Arthur's defense, and sentenced McCullaugh to prison. Arthur also takes the case of meek, gentle trans-gender Ralph Agee (Robert Christian) who is guilty of a small crime. Arthur pays regular nursing home visits to his devoted grandpa Sam Kirkland (Lee Strasberg) who, though becoming senile, had been a great inspiration to Arthur. In the meantime, Arthur starts dating an ethics committee member, Gail Packer (Christine Lahti), and sleeping with her. One day Arthur suddenly finds himself blackmailed into defending corrupt Judge Fleming who to everyone's surprise has been accused of rape, even though Arthur and Fleming personally loathe each other. As their previous fight is well known, Judge Fleming thinks that everyone will believe he is innocent if the person he loathes argues for him. Judge Fleming also blackmails Arthur, telling him his previous assault charge will be reviewed by the ethics committee and they will debar Arthur if he refuses to represent Fleming. Gail confirms the news to Arthur. In a rare comedic scene, one day Judge Rayford for amusement takes Arthur for a hair-raising ride in his personal helicopter over the harbor and Fort McHenry, laughing as he tests how far they can possibly go without running out of fuel.
Meanwhile, Jay Porter (Jeffrey Tambor), Arthur's friend and fellow public defender, has a berserk outburst in court due to guilt from having argued too many cases of various defendants who he felt were truly guilty of violent crimes. Arthur and Judge Rayford control Jay and take him to the hospital. At that time, Arthur calls on another lawyer friend, Warren Fresnell [Larry Bryggman], to handle the defense of Ralph, another indigent defendant, in Jay's absence. But after Warren forgets to appear on time at the hearing, Ralph is sentenced to jail and commits suicide. Then Jeff McCullaugh, in prison himself despite his innocence, one day takes some policemen hostage there. Arthur arrives and begins pleading with Jeff to release the hostages, but the impatient police shoot Jeff down. After all these frustrations, a tensed Arthur takes Judge Fleming's case, as he has no alternative.
Before the day of Judge Fleming's hearing on his own rape charge, Arthur is surprised and ecstatic to suddenly acquire from his client Carl, some incriminating photographs showing Fleming in BDSM acts with a prostitute. Arthur talks to Gail about this turn of events, but she advises him not to turn against Fleming, as it will result in Arthur's expulsion from his profession. On the day of the hearing, Arthur shows the pictures to Fleming who admits that he is guilty, but says he will make sure the polygraph tests and produced eye-witnesses exonerate Arthur from the personal assault charge against Fleming. Stunned, Arthur goes to the hearing. In his opening statement during the hearing, Arthur starts as if he is supporting Fleming, but eventually he bursts out in anger and at last, turns against Fleming, saying "my client, The Honorable Henry T. Fleming. should go right to fucking jail; the son of a bitch is guilty". The judge then calls Arthur "out of order", and Arthur is thrown out of the court by the guards. In the end, Arthur sits on the court's steps and sees his friend Jay, raising his wig and greeting him with "Hi, Arthur" and entering the court. Arthur throws a confused look and the film ends
[edit] Cast
- Al Pacino as Arthur Kirkland
- John Forsythe as Judge Henry T. Fleming
- Christine Lahti as Gail Packer
- Jack Warden as Judge Francis Rayford
- Lee Strasberg as Sam Kirkland
- Jeffrey Tambor as Jay Porter
- Sam Levene as Arnie
- Robert Christian as Ralph Agee
- Thomas G. Waites as Jeff McCullaugh
- Larry Bryggman as Warren Fresnell
- Dominic Chianese as Carl Travers
- Craig T. Nelson as Frank Bowers
- Victor Arnold as Leo Fasci
- Vincent Beck as Officer Leary
- Bonita Cartwright as Woman in car
- Michael Gorrin as Elderly Man
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- ...And Justice for All. at the Internet Movie Database
- ...And Justice for All at Allmovie
- And Justice for All at Rotten Tomatoes
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