The Paper Chase

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The Paper Chase

PG

Released Oct 16, 1973

1h 51m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

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32 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

As a first-year law student at Harvard, James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) knows he's got his work cut out for him. But things get harder than he anticipated when he runs afoul of the school's dreaded contracts professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman). Wry and imposing, Kingsfield drives many of the lesser students to drop out, but James endures and, as if begging for more trouble, begins dating the professor's daughter, Susan (Lindsay Wagner).

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

The Paper Chase isn't a terrible movie, but its preconceptions are all wrong: it's about an un-situation and un-people.

Sep 19, 2023

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Variety Staff

Variety

The Paper Chase has some great performances, literate screenwriting, sensitive direction and handsome production.

Jul 24, 2008

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Time Out

A muddled and slick 'youth' film.

Feb 9, 2006

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The pacing is a touch too slow, dawdling here and there with minor matters (including an absurd showdown with a hotel manager) that may intermittently aid in realism but simultaneously stretch out the runtime.

Rated: 5/10

Feb 6, 2025

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

An impressive American drama which delves into the competitive and stressful world of academia.

Jun 13, 2022

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John Simon

Esquire Magazine

Back in 1926, Virginia Woolf wrote that at the movies, "as smoke pours from Vesuvius, we should be able to see thought in its wildness, in its beauty, in its oddity..." The Paper Chase fails to make thought visible.

Jul 23, 2020

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steve m

I remember this from my college days, didn't think it was all that then, still don't. The guy does everything he can to get a good grade, then realizes it's not that important. So what is important?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Another "product of its time" movie that I might have enjoyed viewing when I was 20 in 1973, but it seems pretty pointless now. Critics lauded Houseman's performance and he cashed in on it for at least a decade after - KaChing! Somewhat interesting to see the portrayals of how people lived and behaved half a century ago - the daughter of a Harvard Law School professor driving a Chevy Vega, a perennial candidate for "Worst Detroit Product Evah!" Overall, pretty slow moving especially the scene where our protagonist loiters in the empty lecture hall; poor editing IMO. Rather implausible ending and I don't just mean at the credits; the hotel scene is utterly ludicrous. I watched it only b/c I hadn't seen it Back in the Day and everybody raved about it then. Now, it's strictly a time-filler.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

Follows a class at HLS and the dynamics within. I love this film. The narrative is totally relatable (bar the HLS bit - I am not so smart), and the character growth is good and who can't relate to grade anxiety.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Well written & acted

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

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Audience Member

Required viewing in law school, with some accurate portrayals and important points made.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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dave s

Early in The Paper Chase, Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman) tells his first-year law students that "you come here with a skull full of mush and you leave here thinking like a lawyer." Using the Socratic Method of teaching, he terrorizes, educates, and molds the malleable minds of his students. First year law student Hart (Timothy Bottoms) first sees Kingsfield as his nemesis before coming to understand the value of the professor's approach. Lindsay Wagner plays Susan, Hart's girlfriend, and serves as a sounding board for the frustrated and stressed Hart. Their relationship eventually becomes a distraction and unnecessary plot point when it is revealed that Susan is Kingsfield's daughter. Despite this, The Paper Chase is a smart film with engaging characters, highlighted by Houseman's Oscar-winning performance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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James Bridges

Director

Timothy Bottoms

James T. Hart

John Houseman

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.

Lindsay Wagner

Susan Fields

Graham Beckel

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Synopsis

As a first-year law student at Harvard, James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) knows he's got his work cut out for him. But things get harder than he anticipated when he runs afoul of the school's dreaded contracts professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman). Wry and imposing, Kingsfield drives many of the lesser students to drop out, but James endures and, as if begging for more trouble, begins dating the professor's daughter, Susan (Lindsay Wagner).

Director: James Bridges
Producer: Robert C. Thompson, Roderick Paul
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 51m

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