It is a performances centric movie

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a good, intense drama. Cate is a trial lawyer, a very good one, but the title reference is more to the trials that she faces as a person. She once won a case that sent a man to prison, but he was later released when new evidence was discovered. Now she may be getting a murderer out of prison on faulty testimony. We see that she is on probation, ostensibly for activity related to alcohol abuse. She has also lost custody of her young daughter and sees a shrink to work on her issues and get her daughter back. And she goes to AA meetings.As part of her restitution she is given a pro-bono case, a woman is serving a life sentence for murder but some questions regarding false testimony and suppression of key evidence cast doubt, Cate is asked to investigate and see if a new trial is in order.The movie only works if the main character, Kate Beckinsale as Cate McCall, is really authentic all the way through, and she is. Also her sponsor, Nick Nolte as old lawyer Bridges, must be equally convincing, and he is.SPOILERS: Cate uncovers many irregularities and before a judge that had been a professor of hers declares the woman free. But she soon discovers the woman really was guilty, she finds a loophole that would allow the DA to bring it up again. And, in the end, she rejects a high-powered job and partnership to move to Seattle to be near her ex-husband and her young daughter, putting her priorities where she can be happy.

I will never know why some writers and directors ruin what was a good film with scenes that could not happen.When you have a courtroom drama where the Judge rules that witnesses have committed perjury it would be necessary for that judge to sign arrest warrants for the transgressors and this is totally ignored and has a detrimental effect in that some scenes that follow just could not happen.It is important in a courtroom drama that the film is accurate in respect of some legal matters so when it is not then in reality it spoils the whole film. It is well acted so the fact that the writer/director lets the cast down in this way is particularly annoying.

There's no sign that the funding came from the Alcoholics Anonymous cult, but the film is entirely focused on pushing the POV of the cult.The acting is pretty bad, and the plot trite and obvious from the start - there are plot inconsistencies all over the place, but it's a bit tedious to point them out. Essentially, the plot is not properly thought-through. That's because it's not really necessary, the whole idea is to show somebody going against the AA cult, then being redeemed by it.Propaganda films like this should really say who has funded them and reveal the fact that they are propaganda - it is dishonest not to.The real reason it's a bad film is just exactly that, it's polemic, it's propaganda, it's not engaging with the audience because it's too busy preaching.We only watched this because I didn't see the IMDb score - never ever rely on what iTunes says about something - come to IMDb and check what real people have said.

"Even when people say terrible things you can't go with the evidence, you gotta go with your heart." Cate Mccall (Beckinsale) is a lawyer…or at least she was. She has fallen on hard times and is trying to get her life back together. In order to be reinstated to the bar and get her kid back she must complete a 12 step program and work on the appeal of a woman who is in prison for murder. What starts off as an easy case becomes more and more difficult with everything she uncovers. I was looking forward to watching this because I really love courtroom dramas. That said I liked this even more than I was expecting to. This is a movie that entirely sucks you in right away and you become deeply involved in Cate's life. You pull for her to get her daughter back and are upset when she takes a step back. The court case is also unbelievably interesting and keeps the movie that much more interesting. This is the kind of movie that gets you thinking one way and at the last minute throws you a twist that makes you look back at everything you saw and wonder if you missed something. I don't want to give anything away but I will say that the movie is hard to predict, which is what makes it so good. If you liked …And Justice For All you will love this movie. Overall, every now and then you watch a movie that sticks with you and you want everyone you know to watch it so you can discuss it with them. This is that movie. I give this an A.