Wonderful character development!

Such a frustrating disappointment

As Good As It Gets

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

James Stewart was one of those everlasting good guys of classic Hollywood, portraying honest and slightly naive characters fighting the system. His role as a inexperienced young lawyer that has to crack a murder case that doesn't seem to look as easy and straightforward as it did when the trail began. Director Otto Premminger isn't letting anything slip by unnoticed, dissecting the trail process to the very smallest details with discreet, but fanatical persistency. Stewart and Remmick are dancing their dance of hunter and the hunted with ease, while the cross examinations flawlessly manage to raise the temperature of the plot until the very climax and the not so anticipated ending. "Anatomy of a murder" laid down the foundation for many trail movies while simultaneously enthroning the cross examination as a foundation of the Anglo-Saxon law system.

Paul Biegler (James Stewart) is a small-town lawyer. He was once the District Attorney of the area but, after 10 years in the job, lost the role in an election. Feeling betrayed by his community, he has his own legal practice but hardly tends to it, preferring to go fishing. Now he gets a huge case - an army Lieutenant has apparently murdered another man after that man allegedly raped his wife. The case will require every ounce of Biegler's cunning, experience and courtroom theatrical ability, especially when the prosecution bring in a famed hotshot attorney from the state's capital.Brilliant - the greatest courtroom drama film ever made. The only similar movies that come close are To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) and Witness For The Prosecution (1957) and though while these have other great qualities neither matches Anatomy of a Murder for sheer courtroom realism and tension. (The TV mini series The Night Of also deserves a mention, I might add).Directed by Otto Preminger (Laura, Exodus, The Man With The Golden Arm, In Harm's Way, among others), the movie holds your attention for every second of its 160-minute duration. Engaging, watertight plot with some clever legal twists and turns. Very realistic and edifying look into the justice system.Add to this Preminger's superb direction. One of the reasons you can't look away is that Preminger wrings the maximum out of every scene and shot - great use of actor's body language and subtle little things that help the plot, mood and intrigue.Completing it all is the nagging feeling that you aren't sure whether the accused is guilty or not. There's no good guys vs bad guys, just prosecution vs defense (like in real life). It's this ambiguity and mystery that make the movie so gritty and utterly compelling. Anatomy of a Murder was nominated for seven Oscars in 1960, including for Best Picture, but won none. 1960 was the year of Ben Hur.

Dear George.C.Scott,you owned this film. Yes, despite the presence of three other stalwarts, you held your own and always had my attention. Even in the scenes where you did not have any dialogs. Your mannerisms and body language helped you steal the thunder from right under James Stewart's nose. The film is a rather long but entertaining, funny and even slightly provocative court room drama. Lee Remick is a sexpot trophy wife who has men fighting over her. Ben Gazzara is her overprotective husband who murders a man who raped Remick. And James Stewart plays their slightly patriarchal lawyer who is scandalized by the change around him. The actors made this film. Apart from you George, Joseph.N.Welch deserves special mention for his performance as a good natured judge. I am surprised a lot of the scenes did not end up on the editing table. I mean, the film is 160 minutes long. I'm not complaining because the brilliant actors were backed by some terrific writing by Wendell Mayes. The film is upto its neck in some remarkable one liners. Otto Perminger does not indulge in too many directorial flourishes. With such a great cast and script, he did not need to.Best Regards, Pimpin.(8/10)

"Anatomy of a Murder" is a mystery movie in which we have a murder trial of a man who killed an another man who raped his wife. The defendant of him supports all his defense in the psychiatrist result which was that the killer is suffered of temporary insanity at the time that he did the crime. On the other hand the prosecution supports that the killer was fine when he did the crime and they avoid to talk about his raped wife.I liked this movie because of the plot and the storyline because it was full of swifts and had much of suspense. I also liked this movie because of the direction of the Otto Preminger who I believe did a great job on it. About the interpretation I have to admit that James Stewart who played as Paul Biegler was simply outstanding for one more time and I also liked the interpretation of Lee Remick who played as Laura Manion. Another interpretation that has to be mentioned is Ben Gazzara's who played as Lt. Frederick Manion and he was really good at it.Finally I have to say that "Anatomy of a Murder" is a great movie to watch because it has plenty of scenes in which you can not expect what will come up and how this will change the whole plot of the movie. This I believe is the most important thing that this movie has and makes it so good, I strongly recommend it.