This Tweet thread about how Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a the best law school movie without any lawyers got me thinking about other movies that bring up legal issues without being about law school or lawyers. This post is going to cover some best low-key legal movies.
A third Legally Blonde movie has been announced for Valentine’s Day 2020 and all I can say is…omigod you guys!! No matter your opinion of the franchise, the first Legally Blonde movie is one of the most popular and well-known depictions of the law school application process. And if you listen to the movies’ screenwriters, the original movie inspired a generation of women to go the law school.
When I set out on this project almost a year ago, I had many questions: What are the greatest lawyer movies ever? What makes a great lawyer movie great? And how long would Blueprint actually let me keep this up?
Since then, I’ve watched 24 lawyer movies, most of them from the ABA’s Top 25 list. Below, I have attempted to summarize my findings and reflections.
This is the final movie I’m reviewing in my search for the Greatest Lawyer Movie of All Time (#GLMOAT #bittersweet). It’s #7 on the ABA’s Top 25, and a worthy entry for consideration.
Breaker Morant
1980 dir. Bruce Beresford
If you tried to draw a Venn Diagram of how lawyer movies fit into other genres, you’d have many overlapping circles. There are legal thrillers, legal family dramas, even legal Christmas movies.
The search for the greatest lawyer movie of all time is almost over. Of the ABA’s Top 25, only six remain, and one of those is “Chicago,” which I feel pretty okay about skipping. This week, I watched #16…
Kramer vs. Kramer
1979 dir. Robert Benton
Most lawyer movies go where the glory is: criminal jury trials with life or death stakes, multi-million dollar class action suits that change the world, etc. But the legal field is wide and varied, and there are plenty of areas of practice that are less glamorous but still full of dramatic potential.
This week, in belated honor of this past Saturday’s Women’s March, I decided to watch a juggernaut on the ABA Top 25, one of the most celebrated legal movies in recent memory…
Erin Brockovich
2000 dir. Steven Soderbergh
As America bids farewell to its own real-life Atticus Finch, I thought it would be a good time to watch #1 on the ABA’s List of the 25 Greatest Legal Movies, the legendary…
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962 dir. Robert Mulligan
The world is a confusing place for a child. Our moral instruction – to the extent that we get any – is a thicket of contradictions.
This week, after months of procrastinating, I decided to pony up the requisite $7.99 and watch #14 on the ABA’s Top 25, perhaps the most iconic lawyer movie of the modern era. I want to say upfront that I will do my best not to make any “You can’t handle the truth!” puns, but I’m not 100% confident that I’ll be successful.
This dude is just as surprised as you are that he made the ABA Top 25 Lawyer Movies. This week, with ambient Christmas music having burrowed its way deep into my subconscious, I decided to watch a Christmas classic, #25 on the ABA’s list of the 25 best legal movies… Miracle on 34th Street 1947
For some reason, this week I decided to watch #8 on the ABA’s Top 25, a movie that may be the most gut-wrenching on the list… Philadelphia 1993 dir. Jonathan Demme Lawyer movies, like the courts themselves, are often forums for showcasing the pressing moral issues of the day. Want to make a thriller about