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Not much to add after all that has been written here. Stellar performance by Newman - obviously at the top of his game.

This is a compelling story that has you fascinated by Frank Gavin (Newman), that though played as a flawed, has-been lawyer, gets you hooked on this character.

Without all background yet explained, early on you find yourself pulling for this underdog. And that only intensifies as Gavin struggles to survive in the corrupt "big city power structure" found all too often.

Watching in the '80s I found myself rewatching it multiple times when it came up on cable. Each time there were nuances in the acting, or deeper understanding of underlying dynamics that surfaced.

Dialogue is compelling, and the cinematography sharp and vibrant.

You actually care for some of these characters - well drawn out.

My standard test for good movies- is it compelling, is it entertaining and would I watch it again?

Yes! On all 3.

Highly recommended.

Complete waste of money, talent and time. Wooden actiong for LeBeau, Dawson, etc. Thorton is wasted hereby a bad generic script. Shallow pointless violence all at boring MTV-hi-speed where everything becomes a blur. Interesting premise but folks unable to pull off. Resulting in a quickly forgettable, meaningless 2 hour movie. Will not watch again.

As others have highlighted here, the acting was stiff, detached and boring. It looked like an interesting premise but the film crew couldn't oull it off. Lead actor looked like he was in a fog. PAce was unbearably slow, kept us looking at the clock. Several times we almost quit the movie but made it to the 1:20 mark before bailing.