Top 25 Court/Law Movies - IMDb

Top 25 Court/Law Movies

by brady-vallbacka | created - 07 Oct 2012 | updated - 10 months ago | Public

Here are the top 25 court movies or movies with long court scenes I have seen. Some may not contain court scenes but have to do with the law and or lawsuits. (random order)

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1. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama

97 Metascore

The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler

Votes: 860,300 | Gross: $4.36M

2. Paths of Glory (1957)

Approved | 88 min | Drama, War

90 Metascore

After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready

Votes: 211,486

3. JFK (1991)

R | 189 min | Drama, History, Thriller

72 Metascore

New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau

Votes: 169,415 | Gross: $70.41M

4. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama

88 Metascore

Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.

Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy

Votes: 331,962

5. A Few Good Men (1992)

R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller

62 Metascore

Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon

Votes: 286,204 | Gross: $141.34M

6. A Time to Kill (1996)

R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

53 Metascore

In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.

Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey

Votes: 180,931 | Gross: $108.77M

7. The Rainmaker (1997)

PG-13 | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

72 Metascore

An underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight

Votes: 82,601 | Gross: $45.86M

8. Philadelphia (1993)

PG-13 | 125 min | Drama

66 Metascore

When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.

Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Roberta Maxwell, Buzz Kilman

Votes: 257,309 | Gross: $77.32M

9. The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

63 Metascore

A lawyer defending a wealthy man begins to believe his client is guilty of more than just one crime.

Director: Brad Furman | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy

Votes: 253,099 | Gross: $58.01M

10. Changeling (2008)

R | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

63 Metascore

After Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, Gattlin Griffith

Votes: 264,850 | Gross: $35.74M

11. The Great Debaters (2007)

PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker

Votes: 62,674 | Gross: $30.23M

12. Prince of the City (1981)

R | 167 min | Crime, Drama

81 Metascore

A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett

Votes: 9,474 | Gross: $8.12M

13. Primal Fear (1996)

R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

47 Metascore

An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.

Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney

Votes: 245,686 | Gross: $56.12M

14. The Aviator (2004)

PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama

77 Metascore

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly

Votes: 383,146 | Gross: $102.61M

15. The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, War

63 Metascore

When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardises the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command.

Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray

Votes: 29,797 | Gross: $21.75M

16. The Hurricane (1999)

R | 146 min | Biography, Drama, Sport

74 Metascore

The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber

Votes: 102,207 | Gross: $50.67M

17. The Devil's Advocate (1997)

R | 144 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

60 Metascore

An exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.

Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones

Votes: 400,412 | Gross: $60.98M

18. Sleepers (1996)

R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

49 Metascore

After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric

Votes: 236,967 | Gross: $49.10M

19. Michael Clayton (2007)

R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

82 Metascore

A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.

Director: Tony Gilroy | Stars: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe

Votes: 173,742 | Gross: $49.03M

20. Thank You for Smoking (2005)

R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama

71 Metascore

Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year old son.

Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Cameron Bright, Maria Bello, Joan Lunden

Votes: 228,586 | Gross: $24.79M

21. Arbitrage (2012)

R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller

73 Metascore

A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.

Director: Nicholas Jarecki | Stars: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth

Votes: 54,690 | Gross: $7.92M

22. Runaway Jury (2003)

PG-13 | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

61 Metascore

A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Director: Gary Fleder | Stars: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman

Votes: 104,269 | Gross: $49.44M

23. My Cousin Vinny (1992)

R | 120 min | Comedy, Crime

68 Metascore

Two New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.

Director: Jonathan Lynn | Stars: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield

Votes: 139,717 | Gross: $52.93M

24. Wild Things (1998)

R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

51 Metascore

A police detective uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students.

Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards

Votes: 130,048 | Gross: $29.75M

25. The Client (1994)

PG-13 | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

65 Metascore

A young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the District Attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.

Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Renfro, Mary-Louise Parker

Votes: 73,407 | Gross: $92.12M

Honourable Mention



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