The Big Picture · Discussion · Roundtable
May 5, 2020/ 95 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda pick their 10 favorite courtroom dramas, walking them chronologically from 1947 to 1996, after ruling that legal thrillers, deposition scenes, and 12 Angry Men don't qualify.
14 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Top 10 Courtroom Dramasin the order they aired, chronological, 1947 to 1996
Amanda's pick. George Seaton's Christmas movie whose climax is a trial: Kris Kringle prosecuted over whether he's the real Santa, the case won when the Post Office delivering his mail is entered as evidence. With a very small Natalie Wood.
Billy Wilder's Agatha Christie adaptation, from the middle of his blackout-great run. Charles Laughton (nominated alongside real-life wife Elsa Lanchester), Marlene Dietrich, and Tyrone Power in his last completed film. The end credits ask the audience not to spoil the twist.
Otto Preminger's nearly three-hour trial. Lawyers consider it the ultimate procedural because you watch the whole thing. Jimmy Stewart crazy like a fox, George C. Scott as the out-of-town prosecutor, Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick, Saul Bass titles, a Duke Ellington score. Includes the debate over whether you can say 'panties' in court.
Sean's pick. Stanley Kramer's not-subtle civics lesson on the Scopes Monkey Trial, built on two 68-year-olds screaming about God: Spencer Tracy and Fredric March. Gene Kelly plays the slimy H.L. Mencken-style reporter who keeps sitting at the lawyers' table.
Amanda's pick. Fred Zinnemann's Thomas More film: Paul Scofield won Best Actor, it won Best Picture. One of the few on the list where the man you're rooting for loses. Robert Shaw as Henry VIII, Orson Welles as Wolsey, a very young John Hurt.
Sidney Lumet, a David Mamet script, and Paul Newman as a washed-up alcoholic lawyer chasing a hospital malpractice case. The foundational modern courtroom drama, the checklist for every one that follows starts here. Bill Simmons texts instantly whenever it comes up.
Sean's pick. Oliver Stone's assassination counter-myth as three-hour argument, culminating in a 35-minute courtroom finale as DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) tries Clay Shaw. Peak Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Pesci, Bacon; a John Williams score composed before he'd seen a frame. Hogwash and mesmerizing.
Amanda's pick, argued up from 'fun' to 'important.' A comedy with the best evidence-explaining scene in the genre and Marisa Tomei's Oscar-winning turn: the rare film here that lets a woman do the lawyering. Joe Pesci, and Fred Gwynne as the small-town judge.
The de facto No. 1 both hosts share. Rob Reiner directs Aaron Sorkin's script; Cruise and Nicholson nose to nose over 'You can't handle the truth.' Sean's theory: Cruise wins the scene, not Nicholson.
Joel Schumacher's Grisham adaptation that throws the whole genre in a blender: country lawyer, big-shot prosecutor, cranky judge, and Matthew McConaughey's closing argument. Chris Cooper steals the interrogation scene.
Bonus recommendations courtroom-adjacent picks on the way out
Not really a courtroom movie, just a great one, Kubrick's WWI drama.
Sean's one discovery: the Leopold and Loeb trial, with Orson Welles dominating the final 30 minutes.
Amanda's shout-out: a woman gets to do the lawyering, with one of the great witness reveals. Left off only because My Cousin Vinny already covers the comic slot.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Ruled out (legal thrillers / not set in a courtroom) The Pelican BriefMichael ClaytonThe Social NetworkThe Insider12 Angry Men...And Justice for All
Considered, left off To Kill a MockingbirdJudgment at Nuremberg
This-century ones that didn't make it Find Me GuiltyMolly's GameThe JudgeRoman J. Israel, Esq.The Lincoln Lawyer
Grisham corner The FirmThe Client
Billy Wilder's run Sunset BoulevardAce in the HoleStalag 17SabrinaThe Seven Year ItchThe Spirit of St. LouisLove in the AfternoonSome Like It HotThe Apartment
Preminger and Kramer LauraCarmen JonesBonjour TristesseThe Defiant OnesIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldGuess Who's Coming to Dinner
In passing PsychoThe Hot RockJurassic ParkJawsGoodfellasCasinoViceDr. Strangelove
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Wolf HallHow to Get Away with MurderScandalLaw & OrderMurder OneHomeland
Podcasts TV ConciergeThe Rewatchables
Ads DC UniverseHarley QuinnStargirl