We are back again for another Tuesday Night is Film Night. This week, amid the hustle and bustle of mid July, we can just about squeeze in a drama from 2013. This week's film is;
The Trials of Cate McCall
There is nothing like a good courtroom drama to get the Film Night juices flowing and The Trials of Cate McCall is certainly a fantastic example of that genre, but it is also a lot more than that. Kate Beckinsale takes the eponymous lead in this thrilling drama, playing the hotshot lawyer McCall. Unfortunately, we find Cate at the start of the film as a recovering alcoholic, on probation and fighting to reclaim her place at the bar. More than that, she is in a custody battle with her estranged husband, fighting to maintain contact with their young daughter. All in all, Cate is in bad shape at the start. She attends Alcoholics Anonymous for what it is worth and can only take the cases she is given to prove her worthiness as a lawyer. Her only companion in all of this is Bridges, played with a superb gruff, yet friendly persona by Nick Nolte. We do not find out until the very end, the connection between the two, apart from them both being lawyers, that is.
After the initial set up, which you need to follow closely for salient pieces of information, the film falls into the main plot line, which is where Cate is assigned the case of Lacey Stubbs (Anna Anissimova). Lacey was convicted of the murder of another woman, however she has always pleaded her innocence and has appealed at every step of her conviction and imprisonment. When Cate picks up this case, she is convinced of Lacey's guilt, but something changes her mind as she delves deeper into the case. Working on her own, apart from support from Bridges, Cate pieces together a defence that could clear Lacey's name. She finds suggestions of police misconduct, witness and evidence tampering, along with corruption in the DA's office, information that could blow the case right out of the water and also cause issues for Cate, as she throws doubt on the evidence and names those that have lied in court to convict an innocent person.
However, to get to this part of the film we have only gotten halfway and there is more story to unravel. There's a cliffhanger for you.
We said at the top of the blog that this was more than a courtroom drama and it is, but the courtroom scenes are superb. Kate Beckinsale is truly sublime as McCall, reminiscent of Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in JFK, although you would be hard pressed to find better courtroom scenes than the ones in JFK. However, McCall (Beckinsale) is truly magnificent as she turns the case around, leading witnesses to stumble over their previously submitted evidence. It's real gripping stuff.
The beauty of this superbly written drama (written and directed by Karen Moncrieff), is the multi-faceted threads that you need to follow to reach the end of the film. It is titled "The Trials......" because it's not just the case of Lacey Stubbs, it is the personal trials for Cate, the previous trials that she has been involved in that come to the fore, the custody issues and the constant battle against the bottle. All of these things combined come together to make a compelling, memorable and very watchable drama. Although the film only weighs in at 93 minutes long, within that time frame there is a lot of information to digest, a lot of dialogue to listen to, a lot of character interaction to understand and that is what makes it so real, so intriguing and so compelling.
The beauty of this superbly written drama (written and directed by Karen Moncrieff), is the multi-faceted threads that you need to follow to reach the end of the film. It is titled "The Trials......" because it's not just the case of Lacey Stubbs, it is the personal trials for Cate, the previous trials that she has been involved in that come to the fore, the custody issues and the constant battle against the bottle. All of these things combined come together to make a compelling, memorable and very watchable drama. Although the film only weighs in at 93 minutes long, within that time frame there is a lot of information to digest, a lot of dialogue to listen to, a lot of character interaction to understand and that is what makes it so real, so intriguing and so compelling.
It's certainly one for the Watch Again list, not just for the story, but for the benefit of those at TNiFN Towers who were not around to watch it or those who fell asleep during some crucial moments! From the perspective of the blogger; I'll watch it again because it is a worthy film to watch and one which kept me enthralled throughout.
TNiFN Rating 92%
TNiFN Rating 92%
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