Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

hyped garbage

Good concept, poorly executed.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The acting and story line in this film were just awful! It didn't make any sense at all and had no relationship to a real trial. This is all about teaching you about God and faith (not in itself bad, but if you have to be tricked into watching a movie about faith and religion, you know its not going to be worth your time).You'll catch on quickly when the credits refer to the www.theRefuge.net at the end.Spend your time doing anything at all besides watching this movie!

"The Trial" felt more like a movie-of-the-week than a theater release. Although the acting was relatively strong, it was as good as could be expected due to the incredibly weak script and plot. A very predictable story-line: the main character is framed for a murder he didn't commit, only to be defended by a lawyer with depressive issues. After sitting through almost two hours of it, hoping for the movie to get better, it just didn't ~ and finally!!! the ending. The only word one can use to describe the conclusion is 'lame' ~ the far-fetched villain who actually committed the crime, and the why/how he did it. Almost laughable, especially the attempted frame-up. I'm not giving anything away - if you decide to slog through this movie, you'll see what I mean.Initially watching this movie because the great Matthew Modine was in it, I had much higher expectations of what the film would offer. At this point the my assumption is he only did it for the paycheck. Gave 4/10*, and that's being VERY generous.

The Trial is a 2010 drama film starring Matthew Modine together with Randy Wayne,Bob Gunton and Robert Forster. It is based on the novel of the same title by Robert Whitlow.The screenplay was written by Mark Freiburger,Gary Wheeler and Robert Whitlow.Also,it was produced and directed by Gary Wheeler.Aging, small town attorney Mac McClain is defending a young man accused of murdering the daughter of an influential local.After his two sons and wife die in a horrific car crash, suicide seems to be the only escape for small town attorney for McClain until he's assigned a capital punishment case involving the murder of the daughter of a powerful business man, in which the victim was drugged. All the odds seem stacked against McClain, and he loses the case. However, McClain manages to save the accused man's life by getting him off death row. At the end of the movie, a private investigator discovers that it was someone else who committed the murder and McClain's client is exonerated.This is a formulaic and predictable movie from beginning to end.But nevertheless,the movie works due to the fact that is combines the best features of courtroom drama, murder mystery and character story.Also,it is a powerful which shows the power of healing and hope.That in itself makes it a 10/10 rating.

THE TRIAL, adapted from Robert Whitlow's novel of the same name by director Gary Wheeler and Mark Freiburger, is in many ways a reminder of what movies used to be - movies that centered on trials of innocent victims or trials that, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, surfaced other issues to ponder. This film is a quiet little intimate tale about the justice system in all its elegance and flaws, but it is more: there are human stories that interweave giving the film an aura of caring that is so rare in today's CGI-oriented Hollywood. The film is set in the beauty of Georgia countryside, complete with mists and fields and rivers where we first see attorney Mac MacClain (Matthew Modine), pensive after the accidental death of his wife and two children nine years ago. His practice has fallen, his mental sate has fallen below the flatline state, and he is contemplating suicide when a telephone call from the wise old town judge (Rance Howard) summons him to take on a case of the murder of one Angela Hightower, the young and beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the little town, the corrupt Hightower family being part of Mac's sad past encounters. The accused is Angela's boyfriend Pete Thomason (an impressive Randy Wayne) who is now in jail claiming he had total amnesia for the event. Mac feels a sense of responsibility to the boy and agrees to take on the case, hiring back his assistant Mindy (Nikki Deloach) and his investigator Ray (Robert Forster). As they uncover facts Mac seeks advice from psychologist Dr. Anna Wilkes (Clare Carey) who in addition to testing Pete finds time to share her Grieving Group Sessions with Mac. The evidence is gathered and the trial begins after a plea bargain is denied by Pete. The Hightower lawyer is the brilliant, eloquent but ruthless Joe Whetstone (a fine performance by Bob Gunton) and the battle of wits and rights is on. The courtroom drama is well written and the turn of events from the trial to the followup findings and second trial are well molded. If the film ends in a too saccharine mode, the quality of acting in the film before that should make the audience tolerate the preachiness. There are some fine cameos -Larry Bagby, Burgess Jenkins, Brett Rice among them - and there is much to learn about contemporary youth habits and small town tenor. This is not a great film, but it is a refreshing memory of the small and intimate films of yesteryear. Grady Harp