From Amazon.com
The best film satires are not necessarily to be found in the theaters, where only independent filmmakers have the courage to risk alienating the ticket-buying audience. Cable TV has proven to be fertile ground for many a sharp-tongued script and
Legalese is as smart and acerbic as they come. James Garner is deliciously conniving as a high-profile criminal lawyer who secretly presides over a high-profile murder trial like he's the Wizard of Oz, whispering directions into the ear of his fresh-faced assistant (Edward Kerr) while monitoring the surrounding media circus from his multimedia eye-in-the-sky office. Gina Gershon is the Hollywood starlet and Apple industry poster girl whose scandalous murder charge sends the tabloid media (led by the predatory talk-show titan Kathleen Turner) into a headline frenzy ("Rotten to the Core" proclaims one muckraking TV show). Mary-Louise Parker is at her best as Garner's ambitious assistant, a savvy, sexy, self-assured junior partner developing her feral instincts when Kerr awakens her slumbering idealism. The sharp, cutting screenplay skewers their relationship with tawdry media sensationalism and camera-hogging legal tactics, but loses the conviction of its cynicism in a satisfying if too cozy happy ending. Until then, it's a nasty little poisoned pastry of a film, served up thick and juicy and oh-so tart.
--Sean Axmaker
Synopsis
Made by and for the TNT cable network, this sharp, satirical courtroom drama skewers the increasingly symbiotic relationship between the judicial system and popular media. The story centers on the trial of a famous model (Gina Gershon) who has been accused of murder. The media touts it "the trial of the century," a notion notorious celebrity lawyer Norman Keane (James Garner) does nothing to dispel. He also doesn't seem to be concerned about the myriad of rumors flying through the airwaves. Reporter Brenda Whitlas (Kathleen Turner) is not as easily fooled as the public and tries to ferret out the truth. Meanwhile a rookie lawyer involved in the case tries desperately to stay afloat amidst the confusion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide