Subgenre Sampler
Courtroom: 202 Films to Buy & Rent
- Criminal Law (1989)
- Dir. Martin Campbell
Feat. Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Tess Harper…
- Hot shot lawyer Gary Oldman successfully defends psycho–killer Kevin Bacon, only to find he had made a costly misjudgement.
- Music Box (1989)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest…
- Jessica Lange plays the attorney daughter of a Hungarian immigrant (Mueller–Stahl), now accused of WW2 war crimes. Her quest for the truth…
- Accused, The (1988)
- Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Jodie Foster, Kelly McGillis
- Jodie Foster won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a rape victim who suffered the additional ordeal of prosecuting her attackers in the face of…
- Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) (1988)
- Dir. Fred Schepisi
Feat. Meryl Streep, Sam Neill
- Jack–of–all–accents, Meryl Streep, does wonders as Lindy Chamberlain, the woman accused of murdering her child in the Australian…
- Judgement in Berlin (1988)
- Dir. Leo Penn
Feat. Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Sam Wanamaker…
- Stolid courtroom drama about the trial of an man who hijacked an airplane in order to flee East Germany for the West, Martin Sheen plays the American…
- Rampage (1988)
- Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Michael Biehn, Alex McArthur, Nicholas Campbell
- This grapples with the psychology of murder and the moral dilemma surrounding the death penalty. A vicious serial killer is prosecuted but how will…
- Shame (1988)
- Dir. Steve Jodrell
Feat. Tony Barry, Deborra-Lee Furness
- Stranded in an outback town, a female lawyer defends a young rape victim when her plight is met with nonchalance by the townsfolk.
- Short Film About Killing, A (1988)
- Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski
Feat. Miroslaw Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tesarz
- Feature–length version of Kieslowski's indelibly chilling Decalogue Pt.5 further protracts a cold–blooded murder and the subsequent…
- Thin Blue Line, The (1988)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- Director Morris digs up a 1976 murder case and uncovers a web of deceit and police corruption. A twisting, bizzare slice of journalism, nicely offset…
- Trial of Bernhard Goetz (1988)
- Dir. Harry Moses
- A verbatim re–creation of the courtroom battle that ensued after Goetz admitted to shooting four black muggers on the New York subway in 1984.…