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Thursday, December 5, 1996

PROFILE:

Two professors rate trial movies on quality and authenticityBy Teeb Al-Samarrai

Daily Bruin Contributor

In a society as engrossed by movies as it is by the courtroom, Law Professors Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow say that since no one had written a book about the use of the courtrooms in films, they decided to do it themselves.

In their book, Reel Justice: The Courtroom Goes to the Movies, the two UCLA alumni rate over 110 trial movies, ranging from classics like "To Kill A Mockingbird" and

"Inherit the Wind" to more contemporary films such as "Philadelphia" and "My Cousin Vinny," on a scale of one to four gavels. They based their ratings on quality, dramatic power, and authenticity of the trial scenes.

The aim of the book is "to answer people's questions about what they saw and to help them choose (from) the great assortment of movies," Asimow said. Bergman added that the book is also meant to entertain.

"It was the realization that this is a wonderful genre of movies that nobody has written about (that made us decide to write the book)," said Bergman, who came up with the idea. "A trial is always dramatic in the public eye, (especially) because of the justice system."

Asimow said that courtroom movies are popular because making a successful movie is about telling "a story people would be interested in," but one that isn't too serious. He pointed out that courtroom movies are filled with the essentials for good story telling, namely conflict and suspense.

"(There are) conflicts between lawyer and judge, lawyer and jury, client and lawyer ... The suspense the jury provides (is that we) never know what the jury is going to do," Asimow explained.

Bergman says that for filmakers, the appeal of law is that it offers good storytelling.

"Law is so important in our society ­ it covers everything from immigration, abortion, affirmative action, religion in schools... a tremendous expanse," he said.

Reel Justice offers a synopsis of the "story," a full "legal analysis," and a "trial brief" of about 70 movies, with an additional 40 in an appendix. Even though their only basis for which movies to include was word of mouth, the authors say they had so many films for consideration that it was a challenge to narrow them down to 70.

For Bergman, the most disappointing aspect found in the films they reviewed was the "demeaning treatment of women as lawyers ­ they are often portrayed as susceptible to their emotions, they're unethical, always falling in love with their client ... a very disappointing aspect, with few positive images."

Even today, Bergman says this stereotypical portrayal of women persists. For example, he points out that in "A Few Good Men," Demi Moore's character, an experienced lawyer, is portrayed as incompetent, assuming a subordinate role to Tom Cruise's character, who has never even set foot in a courtroom.

The authors said that even enjoyable movies received bad gavel ratings in their book since, as Bergman put it,"thrillers that use courtroom scenes as a jump-off point usually have a trial in them that is pretty silly and then go into the chase scenes (and) exploding cars..."

To Bergman and Asimow, the exploding cars and chase scenes aren't the most absurd things taking place in the on-screen court dramas. They also discovered scenarios such as defense attorneys hiring spies to seduce then sabotage the opposing counsel, and lawyers admitting their clients' guilt before the jury, which according to Asimow, would be "a career terminating move."

As for their own personal favorite movies, Asimow and Bergman's preferences are different, but their choices both focus on legal proceedings.

Asimow's favorite is "To Kill A Mockingbird," a film in which Gregory Peck plays a lawyer who takes on a nearly impossible case based on his obligation as a lawyer to provide counsel for anyone in need. Bergman says he is partial to "Inherit the Wind," a film which is based on the Scopes Trial.

To promote Reel Justice, the two authors have appeared on CNN, the Today Show, KCET's Life and Times, Turner Entertainment Reports, and various radio stations including KABC and West Coast Live. They said that, surprisingly, they haven't received any negative responses from disgruntled actors or directors.

In fact, they received a letter from Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his role as Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird" (which received a four gavel rating), agreeing with the poor rating granted to another of his films.

Books: Bergman and Asimow will sign books and show film clips at Super Crown at 4454 Van Nuys Blvd in Sherman Oaks from 2-3pm Dec 14, and at Barnes and Noble at 111 Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m.