Everything starts nice: the subtleties of the story line are introduced in an admirable low key fashion. And the 'expert' critics say this is a great new twist on a worn out theme, and maybe at the time this movie was released it was - but that was then and this is now and frankly the idea wears thin. There seem to be three writers attached to this project and one will of course conjecture what they were up to, for sections of this loose tale seem rather poorly written - and even poorly directed, and the director Michael Apted, who three years earlier made the excellent Gorillas in the Mist, will have to forgive.
The flaw seems to be thinking that the marriage of these two 'sub-plots' can work. And for a courtroom drama there is precious little courtroom time, and what is there jumps about a bit too much.
The cast are great; the acting is generally top drawer - except for a mother daughter scene near the beginning which simply unequivocally does not work and undermines the viewer's confidence in the movie - and I never before realised how beautiful MEM could be - but maybe anyone dressed in threads like that would look as good.
You'll enjoy it, you'll regard it as adequate entertainment, but if you're looking for excitement or a better overall premise, you'll be disappointed.
The flaw seems to be thinking that the marriage of these two 'sub-plots' can work. And for a courtroom drama there is precious little courtroom time, and what is there jumps about a bit too much.
The cast are great; the acting is generally top drawer - except for a mother daughter scene near the beginning which simply unequivocally does not work and undermines the viewer's confidence in the movie - and I never before realised how beautiful MEM could be - but maybe anyone dressed in threads like that would look as good.
You'll enjoy it, you'll regard it as adequate entertainment, but if you're looking for excitement or a better overall premise, you'll be disappointed.