I had jury duty last week. Much to my relief (and somewhat to my disappointment) I did not get assigned to a panel. But give me four hours of uninterrupted thinking time, and a blog entry comes to mind. Clips of court room drama and famous jury scenes had plenty of time to replay in my head. Naturally the three classics, Sidney Lumet's Twelve Angry Men, Inherit the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird sprang to mind.
Then as the hours dragged other movies came into focus. Richard Gere just can’t seem to stay out of a courtroom whether he is an American attorney on trial for murder in China (Red Corner) or a slick lawyer defending Edward Norton in Primal Fear. And yes, he even sings and dances his way as the suave Billy Flynn in Chicago. Al Pacino has plenty of billable hours in the legal thriller And Justice for All. Paul Newman is a washed up lawyer with a last chance to save his career in The Verdict.
As in real life, sometimes film trials can make us laugh. In a situation later to be copied in countless situation comedies, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy find love and marriage can be a bit rocky when on opposite sides of the bench in Adam’s Rib. But for all time funny scenes, catch Marisa Tomei’s performance in My Cousin Vinny. Her scenes as an “expert witness” providing testimony about tires and tracks stole the movie and helped win her an unusual Best Supporting Actress Oscar in a comedy.
So what movies will you think about the next time you have jury duty? Darn! I really wanted to go through the voir dire process.