Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Blistering performances.

A defence attorney suffers a crisis of conscience when he recognises his own responsibility for enabling a serial killer to be set free but when he's presented with an opportunity to put matters right, he realises that taking the necessary action would require him to act unethically and unprofessionally.This psychological thriller focuses on the lawyer's ethical dilemma, his gradual recognition that the legal system only has a limited ability to deliver justice and his personal struggle to avoid becoming the kind of monster that he's determined to bring to justice.Ben Chase (Gary Oldman) is the defence attorney who's prepared to use any kind of cynical ploy to get a "not guilty" verdict for his clients and after using one such manoeuvre to discredit the value of eyewitnesses in a murder case, earns an acquittal for Martin Thiel (Kevin Bacon). After the trial, Thiel gives indications that he was actually guilty and a short time later telephones Chase to arrange a meeting at a nearby park. When Chase goes to the arranged meeting place, he's horrified to discover the body of a woman who'd been raped and murdered. Police detectives Mesel (Joe Don Baker) and Stillwell (Tess Harper) attend the crime scene and are openly disdainful of Chase who they blame for returning the murderer back into society. When it seems that Thiel might need legal representation for a second time, Chase agrees to defend him so that he can make sure that he's held accountable for his crimes. This unethical approach isn't entirely feasible however, and so Chase tries to get Thiel to incriminate himself. In trying to do this, the two men become closer and Chase starts to recognise certain similarities between them that he finds disturbing.In "Criminal Law" it's interesting to see the changes that the ultra-conceited Chase goes through as he becomes filled with doubt about what he's doing and takes advice from his mentor, Professor Clemens (Michael Sinelnikoff) who advises him about the shortcomings of the justice system by saying that "the law is the dark shadow of justice". Similarly, the significance of the first part of the Nietzsche quotation at the start of the movie ("Whosoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster") also becomes apparent in an interesting way as the relationship between the two men becomes closer and the mind games begin.The main problem with this movie is that the interest that's established in the effective first act gradually dissipates as the whole undertaking loses coherence as it progresses. More pleasingly though, the issues it addresses do provide some good material for a thriller and Gary Oldman and Kevin Bacon are excellent in their roles

In 1988, Henry Wade was licensed by the State Bar of Texas and he's also a member of the Dallas Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Serving as an assistant district attorney in Dallas and Bell counties from 1989 to 1991, Wade was the felony prosecutor in over 100 jury trials, including murder, aggravated robbery and drug distribution, and from 1995 to 1998, he served as judge of County Criminal Court No.1 in Dallas County. Since 2007, Wade has been a member of The Wade Law Firm, as a general trial attorney with an emphasis on criminal litigation at both the state and federal levels. He is qualified as an expert witness and has testified in criminal law matters.http://www.newlawyer.com

In this film Gary Oldman plays a defense attorney, who was formerly a prosecutor. He is a bit tormented, but is more or less playing a regular guy rather than some sort of figurative or literal monster. Funny thing is, he doesn't quite pull it off. I guess you can't quite get to normal from there. Kevin Bacon was sufficiently creepy. The scene in the park was way too long with way too many false scares. And the odd sex scene with Oldman and Karen Young seemed to have come from a different movie, although the rest of the time Miss Young did just fine. This film suffers from oddness trying to cover up the predictability. And failing. Don't bother.

(taaa-daaa)....what the hell is a Mystfest anyway? "Criminal Law", an aging thriller/suspense flick, features a supercharged Oldman plays a hotshot attorney who gets involved with a client who....aw, never mind. This film is so convoluted I felt like I should be taking notes. The problem is, I was too busy yawning. Engaging at first, "CL" wears itself out early on as Campbell steers his crew through a rote production, apparently obsessed propagating his notion of good film to the exclusion of the audience's. A dreary Canadian shoot with a made-for-tv feel, "CL" gives us little with which to empathize and so we quickly disengage and let the movie run wearing itself out to the drooping of audience eye lids.