Criminal Law is a 1988 American legal thriller film directed by Martin Campbell and starring Gary Oldman and Kevin Bacon. It received largely negative reviews.
Video Criminal Law (film)
Plot
Attorney Ben Chase successfully defends Martin Thiel, a wealthy, young playboy, getting him acquitted of a series of brutal murders--only to find out later that Thiel is indeed a serial killer. Since Thiel cannot be tried again for his crimes, Chase tries to get him to incriminate himself before he can kill again.
Maps Criminal Law (film)
Cast
- Gary Oldman as Ben Chase
- Kevin Bacon as Martin Thiel
- Tess Harper as Detective Stillwell
- Karen Young as Ellen Faulkner
- Joe Don Baker as Detective Mesel
- Sean McCann as Jacob Fischer
- Ron Lea as Gary Hull
- Michael Sinelnikoff as Professor Clemtes
- Elizabeth Shepherd as Dr. Thiel
Reception
Criminal Law received an unfavorable reaction from critics, with a 33% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert called the film "a textbook example of a movie going wrong before our very eyes."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was unimpressed by Oldman's performance, writing: "Oldman is a powerhouse... But what's a British actor doing playing a Harvard attorney in a Boston-based movie shot in Montreal? Flailing about like a drowning man, that's what. Oldman's [accent is] laughably in-and-out." He added that "Bacon delivers the film's one modulated performance--and he's the psycho."
Linda Rasmussen of AllMovie, on the other hand, wrote that Oldman "gives an excellent performance", described Bacon as "intriguing and ambiguous", and praised the direction and action sequences. She concluded: "Criminal Law, if not taken very seriously and with more than a grain of salt, can be entertaining, but it fails miserably when compared to accurate, exciting legal thrillers such as Primal Fear.
References
External links
- Criminal Law on IMDb
- Criminal Law at Box Office Mojo
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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