Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

John Hillerman, a long while yet from being recognized as Magnum PI's Higgins, co-stars in this made-for-TV drama as an over-zealous and under-insightful prosecutor. But it was Judd Hirsch's public defender Murray Stone that made this such a compelling drama to watch. Hirsch is a terrific actor, and I have enjoyed him in so many roles over the years, but I can't think of a one that truly surpasses this early portrayal. Murray Stone was humorous yet full of passion,determined to get off athe only truly innocent client he'd ever represented.This low budget effort was beautifully filmed and presented, and far surpasses any other courtroom drama in my memory. If you can find it anywhere to watch, you'll not be disappointed. (The super lawyer who almost steals Murray's client away is a thinly-veiled representation of F. Lee Bailey, by the way. Audiences of today are unlikely to recognize that, but it was a spot-on characterization at the time.)

I rate this as a 9 because as a made for TV movie and all that means in terms of budget, available filming time, star power, etc.,its quality was way above anything done on TV at the time and it took a long time before anything "made for TV" was ever made as well again. Judd Hirsch WAS Murray Stone and the rest of the cast and the way it was filmed were just as real. I don't remember all of the details having only seen it once, when it first appeared 37 years ago but I still recall the feelings I had when I was watching it. I was only 11 at the time but I knew even at that young age that I was in the presence of greatness as I sat glued to the screen. I don't know if it is still available in any format or ever shown on any of the cable channels but if does, watch it. I know that I will.

The Law (1974) was an excellent TV movie about a high-profile case that was similar to that of Charles Manson. Judd Hirsch was outstanding as the lead character, Public Defender Murray Stone, and he deserved far more recognition than he ever received for the role. He represented one of the defendants in the case through the maze of the Los Angeles criminal justice system. He was very dedicated to his client, which sometimes is not so among overworked public defenders. John Hillerman was also memorable as the District Attorney when speaking cynically, almost to himself, about a staff member. Following the movie, there were three additional episodes of The Law that were also very good. They may have been an "extended pilot," so to speak, of a TV series that never materialized. I found a particular character in the movie, Jules Benson, to be interesting. He appeared only briefly and was strongly reminiscent of the the late Melvin Belli, famed San Francisco trial attorney, since his demeanor and publicity orientation were remarkably similar to Belli. (Perhaps, intentionally so.) As a lawyer myself, "The Law" offered no illusions about the criminal justice system and many of the people in it, including an abruptly seen judge nicknamed "The Dragon Lady," who had a gun under her judicial robe! It is one of the best movies I have seen on the subject.

When The Law came out, there was no made-for-TV movie that presented the system with all its human flaws, flaws that make the system human. Before was Perry Mason and The Defenders, but they showed the system in an unrealistic light. The defense lawyers were nearly perfect. Perry Mason was much maligned, but his clients (all but one were innocent). Hamilton Burger accused Mason of all kinds of misdeeds, and he never got it that the "showmanship" he railed against was always part of the process to show the client was innocent. In the Law, we have a dedicated public defendant who cannot let go of the one client he has that is innocent. A franchise lawyer seizes the client through the mother, and the lawyer is about to plead the client guilty to make a book contract fatter. He has to fight and cut a corner or two to get the client back to be sure that the client gets the best defense, which, it turns out, comes from the beleagured public defender. The client walks without a trial. And that is the point--there is no trial, no courtroom tricks or confessions. The whole story takes place as the State's case comes together then collapses. The innocent client and his struggling lawyer find the occasional needle in the haystack of justice. I was a lawyer only a year when The Law first played, and I marvelled at how it captured the essence of the criminal justice system: Venal judges, prosecutors seeking notches in their political gunbelt, overworked public defenders trying to rise above it all (I was a prosecutor at the time). About five years later, I was lucky enough to tape it. I haven't seen it in at least ten years. It probably no longer shows because of its age, but, of all the shows to have come before or since, none measures up to its realism.