...And Justice for All

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...And Justice for All

R

Released Oct 19, 1979

2h 0m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

81%

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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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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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

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Variety Staff

Variety

Attempts to alternate between comedy and drama, handling neither one incompetently, but also not excelling at either task.

Jan 24, 2013

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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

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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

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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

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Paul E

Worth watching if only for Pacino's 8 minute courtroom trial appearance, which in my opinion is perhaps the finest acting performance ever, he literaly melts the celluloid in the camera's. It is magnificent!.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/05/25

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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

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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

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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

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Narciso R

Wildly funny, hysterical at times, what acting. Great cast, inspiring. NRJ.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/24

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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

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Norman Jewison

Director

Al Pacino

Arthur Kirkland

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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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