#201 Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

In my Professional Responsibility class, we watched part of this movie to discuss if what Jimmy Stewart was doing in the movie was ethical. Although this had little to do with anything in the movie, the general question is "how much should a lawyer explain the law to his client?" If you don't tell him enough, he may not tell you important facts. If the lawyer explains too much, the client may start "remembering" things to fit the law. Regardless, does it even matter? OK, enough of that.
What makes this film great is that it methodically takes you through the entire case and even makes you listen to the objections and the logic behind them. There is a large element of realism, and the movie shows how people try to abuse the courtroom and its rules to try and win. Clearly this movie explores the amoral lifestyle law can sometimes take. If you are looking for a good law movie and have nearly three hours to spare, check this movie out. They could have easily made this movie a lot shorter, but I think I like the drawn out feel to the movie. It allows the viewer to get involved more. I read somewhere that this was supposed to be the greatest courtroom movie of all time. It's up there.

"Twelve people go off into a room: twelve different minds, twelve different hearts, from twelve different walks of life; twelve sets of eyes, ears, shapes, and sizes. And these twelve people are asked to judge another human being as different from them as they are from each other. And in their judgment, they must become of one mind - unanimous. It's one of the miracles of Man's disorganized soul that they can do it, and in most instances, do it right well. God bless juries." -Parnell McCarthy

Have you seen this movie? What movie should I watch next?
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