The Trials of Cate McCall

Once again Kate Beckinsale plays a solid, fully realized protagonist in yet another uneven but intriguing film. The Trials Of Cate McCall is an episodic courtroom drama in where the cases which defence attorney Beckinsale works kind of take a backseat to, and even reflect the issues she faces in her personal life. She's been disbarred from practising law some time ago, also losing the custody of her daughter. With the help of her ex lawyer father (a crusty, scene stealing Nick Nolte), she begins the long road to personal and professional redemption, starting with a tricky case involving the alleged violent sexual assault of a wayward girl (a deft, unsettling Ana Schafer). Sounds great, right? Unfortunately not. It's certainly interesting, but it squander valuable time on scenes which should be brisk and tightly wound, providing bloated segments where there could be high drama. When it's solid it's solid though, especially with Beckinsale's work. Supporting turns include James Cromwell as a not so honest judge, Clancy Brown as a stern D.A., Mark Pellegrino as a crass detective implicated in the heinous crime, and other work from Dale Dickey, Isiah Washington and Kathy Baker. Despite its inconsistencies, it manages to hold interest through selected performances that are marvellous, and some perfectly timed third act plot turns that sheds new light on everything that came before it. As far as courtroom flicks go, you can do both a lot better and a lot worse in checking this one out.

"Even when people say terrible things you can't go with the evidence, you gotta go with your heart." Cate Mccall (Beckinsale) is a lawyer…or at least she was. She has fallen on hard times and is trying to get her life back together. In order to be reinstated to the bar and get her kid back she must complete a 12 step program and work on the appeal of a woman who is in prison for murder. What starts off as an easy case becomes more and more difficult with everything she uncovers. I was looking forward to watching this because I really love courtroom dramas. That said I liked this even more than I was expecting to. This is a movie that entirely sucks you in right away and you become deeply involved in Cate's life. You pull for her to get her daughter back and are upset when she takes a step back. The court case is also unbelievably interesting and keeps the movie that much more interesting. This is the kind of movie that gets you thinking one way and at the last minute throws you a twist that makes you look back at everything you saw and wonder if you missed something. I don't want to give anything away but I will say that the movie is hard to predict, which is what makes it so good. If you liked …And Justice For All you will love this movie. Overall, every now and then you watch a movie that sticks with you and you want everyone you know to watch it so you can discuss it with them. This is that movie. I give this an A.

Review: I really enjoyed this intense courtroom drama about a top lawyer who takes on a case to try and free a girl from jail after being sentenced to life for murder. Although the evidence against the accused is full of lies and deceit, there still lies the question about the girls true innocence. I liked the different twists and turns throughout the movie and the performances made the movie intense and emotional. You really don't know what direction this movie is going to take because the lawyer is also a recovering alcoholic who is fighting to get custody of her little girl. When everything becomes a bit too much for the stressed out lawyer, she turns to Nick Note for guidance, who was a great choice by the director. Anyway, I didn't lose my interest throughout the movie because it's not predictable and it doesn't seem to drag, so I can honestly say that it's worth a watch. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: It's weird watching Kate Beckinsale in a straight role after watching her shooting zombies and kicking butt in the Underworld franchise. She has starred in many top movies like The Aviator, Pearl Harbor and Total Recall but she still seems to stay under the Hollywood radar. Nick Nolte has also been out of the spotlight lately, which is a shame because I always rated him as an actor. Anyway, the whole cast performed well in this intense drama, but it didn't seem to have got a major release so it's another one of those films that will be under rated.

Budget: $7million Worldwide Gross: N/A

I recommend this movie to people who are into there intense courtroom dramas about a big time lawyer who has some serious personal issues but she still takes on a case to try and save a girl from her life sentence for murder. 6/10

I think nowadays there's a shortage of these kind of movies, the last good one was The Lincoln Lawyer (which is quite similar to this one). It's the same recipe again: let's add a little personal drama (Cate could lose her daughter due to her alcoholism), an almost impossible case (female murderer from death row appeals, and Cate gets to defend her), an old case, where the character made the wrong decision, and the courtroom drama is ready.

But I think, this movie is using these "clichés" very well to create a good story. The main character has motivations, inner conflicts, and these are very well correlating with the main storyline and the whole message of the story. It's not something I should praise, but frankly, most movies are lacking this.

Anyway, the courtroom case is interesting, both the mood and the pace of the movie are satisfying, so I think it's quite enjoyable and also makes you think. And last, but not least, Kate Beckinsale convinced me, that she's not a bad actress, she just needs a good character to play.

If you liked Fracture or The Lincoln Lawyer, this one is for you.

Cate is an incredible fine lawyer with some serious problems with alcohol that is searching a way to recover the right to see her daughter. Since she was a fine lawyer before being alcoholic she accept a new case to defend an innocent girl that was wrongfully accused and in the process prove that she is fit to be a mother.

That's about the whole idea of the movie, but behind the seemingly obvious drama and court case movie there is a deep web of lies hence the title the movie gets in other countries.

For the most part, the movie plays Kate as Cate struggling to understand the rules of the system and her life and the movie plays for the majority of the time as a drama, but, there are some parts that plays with suspense and some later turnarounds.

The movie is not brilliant in the script department, you can actually guess the outcome of all, but being honest, it doesn't pretend to play as a suspense movie either.

All the court case parts, the innocent girl, the threats and the lies are just secondary plot ideas to picture what is really important here and that's the life of Cate.

This is a very fine movie in the drama department and one you should seriously consider if you're into this genre. The acting of Miss Kate Beckinsale and Nick Nolte are one of the best moments through the movie and proves that Kate is a very good actress.

I love court case movies and this one didn't disappoint and a movie about a flawed main protagonist path to redemption is always a topic i'm fond of.

An easy 6 out of 10