Reel Justice
Paul Bergman & Michael Asimow
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2006 Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740754602

The Courtroom Goes to the Movies.

Informative & entertaining, Reel Justice rates trial scenes in films on a one-to-four-gavel scale, with four being a classic & one being “ask for a new trial.” Authors Paul Bergman & Michael Asimow, both accomplished law professionals, discuss the cultural messages encoded in the films, point out what went right & wrong in scenes where liberties were taken, & even answer a few legal questions along the way.

Completely revised & reformatted from the successful first edition, this one includes more than two dozen recent movies as well as many older favorites that weren't covered before.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

“Every third Hollywood movie is bound to be a courtroom drama/ legal thriller.” Well,…that's not 100% true accurate -- let me correct it -- every third movie you see is bound to be a courtroom drama/ legal thriller. The fascination with law, lawyers & courtrooms is not restricted to Hollywood alone -- it also holds true for Bollywood (Hindi movies), even for Mollywood (the Malayalam movie industry over here in Kerala, India -- where I'm from).

When The Exorcism of Emily Rose was doing wonders at the Hollywood box-office, Veer-Zaara in Bollywood & Chinthamani Kolacase (The Chinthamani Murder Case) were reaping in money in Bollywood & Mollywood respectively.

But how real are the concepts of law, courtroom & lawyers presented in movies? Through a finely selected collection of movies -- law professors & exponents in law & popular culture -- authors Paul Bergman & Michael Asimow explain where fact ends & fiction begins in some of the all-time classic movies from around the world.

From the superb classic To Kill a Mockingbird --Gregory Peck was simply awesome as lawyer Atticus Finch, the perfect example of a model lawyer -- to Liar, Liar -- Jim Carrey is simply awesome as lawyer Fletcher Reade, the perfect example of what a lawyer should never be -- & 12 Angry Men -- which examines the nuances of circumstantial evidence from a juror's point of view -- to Legally Blonde -- which examines circumstantial evidence from a beauty queen’s point of view, Reel Justice tackles almost 170 movies, with the authors bringing their unique insights into every entry.

John Grisham movies get special mention because he revolutionized the legal thriller genre in popular fiction. Plus there are sidebars to explain such things as the “hearsay rule” & “character evidence.”

Being a lawyer myself & a big fan of courtroom movies, I found Reel Justice a great companion. Though I have seen many of the classics, I'm off to pick up CDs of those I'd never heard of.

A great reference read.

Do catch my Interview with Michael Asimow
(06/04/06)

Narayan
2006©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org