...And Justice for All (1979)
★★★★½ — ...And Justice for All (1979)
Norman Jewison came to this project on the back of a strong run of socially conscious films, including In the Heat of the Night (1967) and the original The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), and ...And Justice for All sits comfortably in that tradition of American cinema using genre mechanics to pick at institutional rot. Written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson (who would later direct Diner and Rain Man), the script draws on a broadly felt cynicism about the American legal system that had curdled through the Watergate years and into the late 1970s. Columbia Pictures backed the film on a modest budget, and it returned a healthy profit, helped considerably by Pacino's profile following the Godfather pictures and Dog Day Afternoon (1975).
It's all out of order!! I'd heard it was "cliche courtroom drama". I thought it was absolutely superb. Al Pacino is phenomenal. The acting is unreal. The writing is great, the end sequence is iconic. It genuinely brought me to tears at points. Fantastic film.
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 1979 | Watched: 2025-04-17
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Related on Movies With Macca
More with Al Pacino: Scent of a Woman (1992) · Cruising (1980) · Insomnia (2002) · Scarecrow (1973)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
