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...And Justice for All

Play trailer Poster for ...And Justice for All R Released Oct 19, 1979 2h 0m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
78% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Satirical drama in which an idealistic lawyer who tries to win cases for clients trapped in a hypocritical and corrupt legal system finds himself defending a venal and self-righteous judge accused of rape. The judge wrongly assumes the lawyer's ideals and disdain for the courts will drive him to get an acquittal, despite the evidence and the loathing they have for each other.
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...And Justice for All

...And Justice for All

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Critics Consensus

A volcanic Al Pacino holds court in this histrionic legal drama, the star grounding a tonally imbalanced script with the conviction of his impassioned performance.

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Critics Reviews

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Robert Osborne The Hollywood Reporter With Al Pacino starring and Norman Jewison directing, the Joe Wizan presentation for Columbia release socks across an often scathing, surprisingly funny and constantly terrifying scan of today's judicial system Oct 21, 2019 Full Review Nathan Rabin AV Club Justice is seldom as deep or trenchant as it wants to be, but there's abundant pleasure to be gleaned from skating along its surfaces. Rated: B+ Jan 24, 2013 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Attempts to alternate between comedy and drama, handling neither one incompetently, but also not excelling at either task. Jan 24, 2013 Full Review Phoenix Staff Boston Phoenix Al Pacino, noisy and effective, yet totally out of control, as a disillusioned Baltimore lawyer, gets to grandstand shamelessly; he gives the movie what little power it has, but the performance is all hollow showmanship. Rated: 1/4 Sep 23, 2024 Full Review Bernard Drew Gannett News Service Some scenes are grim and tragic, some pure farce, some manifestations of paranoia of daily life in these times, but Jewison has not found the glue to meld them together. His anxiety ridden film is too often hot and cold running water. Sep 22, 2024 Full Review Sean Burns Crooked Marquee The codification of Pacino’s movie star persona, the first time he started treating that magnificent head of hair as a co-headliner and when his squeaky Michael Corleone whisper got gruff. Jan 22, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (573) audience reviews
Dionisis T One of Al Pacino's finest performances and certainly a very good film with the theme of the corruption of the legal system Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/30/24 Full Review Alec B It has fair points to make however the movie deals with so many extreme examples of systemic and individual failures in such a short period of time that it feels less like serious indictment of the legal system and more like a histrionic rant. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/28/24 Full Review Jelisije J A very good court room drama that is a mixture of a comedy of Al Pacino character having one of the worst couples of months as a defense lawyer that you will ever see in film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/24 Full Review Narciso R Wildly funny, hysterical at times, what acting. Great cast, inspiring. NRJ. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/24 Full Review Crey Fish S If you look up reviews for …And Justice For All, it's no secret this film's script is all over the place. Is it a drama? Nope it's a screwball comedy but no please stick around, it's a drama again. This can work in films where the the comedy is set from the beginning and feels aligned with the story. This is not the case here. But none of this would matter as much if the direction gave this film some focus - really highlighting the meaning behind the film. Instead we get handheld camera movement in prison, wacky wide and point of view shots for comedy, and standard dramatic coverage for those moments where Al Pacino really gives it his all - coverage of a script in its first draft. However, within this mediocre, tonally imbalanced movie lies a brilliant Al Pacino performance. This film needed a director's cut because that ending fucking ruled before it decided to finish on another cheap gag. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Most of Al Pacino’s movies are average, never outstanding. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
...And Justice for All

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Satirical drama in which an idealistic lawyer who tries to win cases for clients trapped in a hypocritical and corrupt legal system finds himself defending a venal and self-righteous judge accused of rape. The judge wrongly assumes the lawyer's ideals and disdain for the courts will drive him to get an acquittal, despite the evidence and the loathing they have for each other.
Director
Norman Jewison
Producer
Norman Jewison, Patrick J. Palmer
Screenwriter
Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Columbia Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 19, 1979, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2010
Runtime
2h 0m
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