A good Al Pacino movie that you may not have seen

Al Pacino gained his respect as an actor for movies like Scarface and Th Godfather movie, and rightfully so, those are some of best movies and great acting performances of all time. But Al Pacino's performance in "And Justice For All" is up there with the other great acting performances he has given. In no way is this movie to be compared to Scarface or The Godfather, but his acting in this movie is up there.

And Justice For All is a movie about a young and disgruntled lawyer named Arthur Kirkland, played by Al Pacino. Kirkland(Pacino) is fed up with the legal system. He is sick of seeing criminals going free, technicalities undermining the system, judges and lawyers making secret deals, and innocent people being unprotected. Kirkland is forced to make a lot of decisions that make him choose between his personal job security and sucess as a lawyer against his integrity and values. This is just a really powerful movie and Pacino's and other actors performances in this movie add to it. This movie really display Pacino's range as an actor. We have seen him as a crazy psychotic maniac in Scarface, a quiet but ruthless mafia boss in the Godfather movies, and now a compassionate and sincere frustrated lawyer in And Justice For All. He plays the part really well too. He plays his character perfectly, you can feel the passion and frustration that his character has.

Arthur Kirkland's(Pacino) career is put to the test when he is basically forced to represent a Judge who is accused of raping and beating a woman. The Judge is Henry Flanning played by John Forsythe. Kirkalnd has a hunch that Flanning(Forsythe) is guilty and doesn't like him to begin with, so defending him becomes a real dilema. Kirkland is pretty much on his own too, his mentors and partners are also disgruntled and overwhelmed with the legal system and aren't much help to him. His partner Jay Porter, played by Jeffery Tambor is in the middle of a nervous breakdown, mainly because he is also torn between doing his job as a lawyer and his own personal values. Annd Kirkland's(Pacino) mentor a judge named William Rayford, who is played wonderfully by Jack Lemmon is an old and ornery Judge and somewhat suicidal. Jack Lemmon does a really good playing his character. He plays a judge who is also fed up with the system, but has gone along with it his whole life, because it's his job. Pacino's love interest in the movie is a woman named Christian played by Gail Packer. A young Craig T. Nelson also makes an appearance in this movie as a hot headed prosecutor. The acting in this movie is all done very well, everyone plays their character really good.

Pacino is the main character and he specifically does a good job. You can really relate and feel the pain and compassion that his character, Arthur Kirkland has. This movie was made in 1979. He made this right in between Godfather 2 and Scarface. It's really a different role that what we are used to seeing him in, but he pulls it off quit well. This plot maybe sometimes get a little slow at times, but it's just trying to make sure it shows every side at Arthur Kirkland from his job as a competitive lawyer who wants to service his clients but at the same time wants to do what is morally right and get real justice. This movie is really realistic. I can definitely see how this could relate to lawyers in real life. It is a lawyers job(by law) to represent and defend their clients to the fullest. A lot of times lawyers know their clients are guilty(sometimes of very wicked crimes) but still have to defend them, and this can put them in a big dilema. This movie shows the side of a lawyers who is forced to confront all these problems. So the plot is certainly good. If you think about it there aren't a whole lot of movies like this, that show a specific person or occupation that is forced to confront morality and integrity issues. And this movie really brings a lot of issues to light. And Justice For All really makes you think about real life issues. In America it is good to have a "due process of law" and everyone gets a fair trail, but at the same time as a result of being a free country and having "a due process of law" it can be taken advantage of. It can allow serious criminals to go free, the innocent to be punished, and even the innocent go unprotected.

I would definitely recommend this movie. It isn't a "great" movie but it is certainly worth checking out, especially if you are a Pacino fan, because this movie brings out the best in him and really showcases his talent. This movie although maybe slow at times keeps you entertained and thinking all the way through to the explosive courtroom scenes at the end.