At the outset, I couldn’t judge the mood of this film. It seemed to me, a cross between a satire and a serious drama. But as it progressed ‘…And Justice for All’ blended these dimensions beautifully to portray the power of the law and those who practice it, over life and the frivolous manner in which it is abused. The title comes from the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ that is an oath of loyalty to the USA, the last four words of which are “..and justice for all”.
The plot revolves around a passionate lawyer Arthur Kirkland who is exposed to the vagaries of the justice system and the idiosyncrasies of judges and lawyers as he sees his innocent client having to spend time in jail over a technicality that could be seen differently. In a state of anger, he attacks a judge and is jailed for a night. The same judge calls on him to defend him in an alleged sex crime, a case of rape and brutal assault on a woman. Kirkland has to take the case else he stands to be disbarred with the judge’s notorious influence. He has to choose between integrity and saving his career. How he deals with it is what the story tries to unravel.
Norman Jewison’s direction straddles mockery and seriousness masterfully. The manner in which the screenplay shows the walls of the system closing in on Kirkland is always a sign of good screen-writing. The screenplay swings from depicting Kirkland’s comic exasperation and violent frustration and is full of quirky characters like a judge who is perennially trying to kill himself, a lawyer who starts throwing lunch plates like Frisbees at everyone in the courthouse because he can’t handle the faking and lying, to name a few. It also brings to light, disturbing cases, like an innocent man undergoing abuse in jails, waiting for a trial date or an under-trial in police custody being sent to jail because the lawyer was careless to not get the appeal to the judge in time. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award.
While the satire-drama combination is commendable, it also can be off-putting at times because as a viewer you tend to lose tempo, when you have a serious sequence followed by a comic one and vice-versa. But, once you see through that, you know what to expect.
Al Pacino as Kirkland does a great job of being the lawyer who at times just throws up his hand in disgust and laughs at the tragic comedy that is being played out with him in the lead role. His climactic outburst is full of passion and is the piece de resistance of this film. His performance earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. He is ably supported by Jack Warden as the suicidal judge.
‘…And Justice for All’ is a film that shows you how lives can be toyed with and finished off by the powerful. A good watch if you are in the mood for some light hearted introspection.