...And Justice For All (1979)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 18,265
My Rating
Movie Info
Norman Jewison's blackly satirical look at the American justice system has gained in stature as one of the more incisive social commentaries of its time. Al Pacino plays Arthur Kirkland, an incorruptible attorney who attempts to initiate reforms in the Maryland justice system. Kirkland is haunted by the fates of two past clients, one of whom committed suicide in jail; the other is still alive but is locked up on a trumped-up traffic violation. The ability of power and money to distort the
Jan 1, 1979 Wide
Jan 16, 2001
Columbia Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Al Pacino
Arthur Kirkland -
Jack Warden
Judge Rayford -
John Forsythe
Judge Fleming -
Lee Strasberg
Grandpa Sam -
Christine Lahti
Gail Packer -
Jeffrey Tambor
Jay Porter -
Sam Levene
Arnie -
Robert Christian
Ralph Agee -
Thomas G. Waites
Jeff McCullough -
Larry Bryggman
Warren Fresnell -
Craig T. Nelson
Frank Bowers -
Dominic Chianese
Carl Travers -
Victor Arnold
Leo Fauci -
Keith Andes
Marvin Bates -
Vincent Beck
Officer Leary -
Michael Gorrin
Elderly Man -
Baxter Harris
Larry -
Joe Morton
Prison Doctor -
Alan North
Deputy Sheriff -
Thomas Quinn
Desk Clerk Kiley -
Beverly Sanders
Sherry -
Connie Sawyer
Gitel -
Charles Siebert
Assistant District Atto... -
Robert Symonds
Judge Burns -
Vasili Bogazianos
Avillar -
Jack Hollander
Prison Warden
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All Critics (26) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (5) | DVD (9)
Attempts to alternate between comedy and drama, handling neither one incompetently, but also not excelling at either task.
Aims to do for the American judicial system what All the President's Men did for the presidency, and if Jewison had only maintained the tone of the superb original screenplay, he might have succeeded.
Top CriticWith the exception of Mr. Strasberg and Mr. Levene, the actors are as hysterical as their material.
Here's an angry comedy crossed with an expose and held together by one of those high-voltage Al Pacino performances that's so sure of itself we hesitate to demur.
...And Justice for All has no part in the stock trade of shock witnesses and surprising revelations. This is about how too many guilty people walk while the innocent take their places in overcrowded jails.
Pacino does his best with a well-meaning but unfocused script, which often concentrates too much on politics, thus failing to do justice to its characters.
Justice is seldom as deep or trenchant as it wants to be, but there's abundant pleasure to be gleaned from skating along its surfaces.
A tiresome and pointless film where Pacino is wasted as a witness to a parade of lunatics.
If an uneasy mix of humour and sadness never quite gels, its message is clear and its cast uniformly strong.
Pacino alternando com fluidez entre momentos intensos e outros de introspecção, um roteiro bem construído e um clímax inesquecível.
years after watching it you'll have no idea what the central trial was all about... but you'll certainly remember that, whatever it was, it was out of order!
Pacino at the top of his game...[but] the film's lack of faith in its audience is glaringly apparent. [DVD review]
The DVD (which also includes Bobby Deerfield) contains interviews with director Norman Jewison and writer Barry Levinson, deleted scenes, a preview and free ticket for Pacino's new thriller, 88 Minutes, which Sony will release in mid-April.
Al Pacino gives a dominant performance as a lawyer whose morals are compromised, but director Norman Jewison can't find the right balance between the critical and satirical elements of the legal system.
Entertaining, with a vintage Pacino performance that only occasionally lapses into grandstanding.
Courtroom hijinks still bites, Pacino tops
Audience Reviews for ...And Justice For All
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Arthur Kirkland: She doesn't have a motive. You know why? Because she's not lying. And ladies and gentlemen of the jury - the prosecution is NOT gonna get than man today - no. Because I'M gonna get him. My client, the honorable Henry T. Fleming [now yelling] should go RIGHT to FUCKING JAIL - the son of a bitch is GUILTY!
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- Judge Rayford: I discovered the meaning of life...
- Arthur Kirkland: Which is?
- Judge Rayford: It sucks Arthur, It really sucks!
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- Arthur Kirkland: Being honest doesn't have much to do with being a lawyer, Grandpa.
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- Arthur Kirkland: They Just People..... God Damn It.... God Damn It.... God Damn It.
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- Arthur Kirkland: You're out of order! You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They're out of order!
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- Arthur Kirkland: The TRUTH? You can't handle the truth!
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Foreign Titles
- And Justice for All (DE)
- And Justice for All (UK)
