Even when it came out in the 80's I found myself amazed that so many people loved this movie. If you love it then I'm about to make you mad and I'm sorry.

The plot is very thin(you can see where it's going in the first 10 mins) and so the "thrill" is lost and as for the acting, Peter Coyote and Oscar nominee Robert Loggia steal this movie when they are on screen. Jeff Bridges is always good but has little to do as the accused killer and must sit quietly in court and that leaves Glenn Close to carry the film and while she is a great actress this is far from her best work.

The film making is very sloppy here also as continuity is thrown out the door. Characters pop in and out of the movie with no explanation just to serve the plot and in some scenes Glenn Close's outfit changes walking from the jury box to the Bench. There are even a few times that you can see the boom mike in the shot. Now that is bad for an A-list project like this.

Now if you like it, then you like it and that's OK because I like some stinkers myself, but this one was a real let down to me. The supporting players rate the 2 stars.