Look, I’m not here to try to get you to like Keanu Reeves or Renee Zellweger if you think those two possess less acting ability than Captain Kirk and a blowup doll (“Star Trek” episode 36: The Inflated Ego). I’m just saying that I took a lazy attitude toward “The Whole Truth” (2016) and thought I had the whole courtroom thriller plot twist figured out in the first 20 minutes. Then I had my ass handed to me (“Star Trek” episode 28: Transporter Trouble). Metaphorically, that is. The movie is good at what it’s trying to be, which ain’t much.
Archives for posts with tag: courtroom dramas
“Music Box” (1989) is a courtroom drama that keeps you guessing. I mean, guessing where the drama is. It’s a federal prosecution of 40-year-old war crimes that took place in Hungary. An open and shut case. The suspense comes in waiting to see if the defendant will admit his guilt to his defense attorney daughter (Jessica Lange). Your faith in the courtroom movie formula starts feeding on itself, however, and you begin rooting for a big payoff that proves Papa innocent. The twist? He is suddenly, definitively shown to be guilty. Interestingly, it makes for a sadder, but better, story.
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