I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The Practice is a neglected yet classic American Legal Drama Series. Over 8 seasons there are remarkably few poorly written episodes and those there are, come after Season 3.Looking at the series as a whole the main characters could be called consistently inconsistent. Their moral boundaries are malleable to the point that ultimately they have no morals at all. This could be considered systematic of the profession but more likely, it is the cause of having to find new story lines and motivations week after week.I assume that David E. Kelly realised his characters often professed morality as they tried to justify their immorality and seeing this paradox created the character of Alan Shore. Alan Shore sees the legal system for what it is, inherently corrupt, and unapologetically exploits that system. Apart from the brilliant performance by James Spader, this unapologetic manipulation of a rotten system is what makes the character of Alan Shore so refreshing. The final season leaps into new territory with the introduction of Alan Shore. Shore renders the earnest posturing of the regular characters in The Practice as irrelevant, cynical and ultimately unconvincing. There are two unforeseeable yet disturbing changes that occur during the seven year run of this legal show.The first observation is the confusion caused within the American Legal community after the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act. What appeared to be a broken yet workable set of rules suddenly, with the passing of this unconstitutional act, reduces the whole legal system to mere pretence as "beyond reasonable doubt" no longer holds any validity.The second unfortunate observation while watching the seasons in chronological order is the rapid alteration of the once beautiful Lara Flynn Boyle by way of plastic surgery. Episode by episode, her top lip changes in size, then it reduces again only to grow fatter yet again. Later her face alters almost beyond recognition as it has obviously been stretched and any natural movement and expression has been restricted. I for one, believe an actor should be required to grow old gracefully, allowing a history to be seen in the face. There is a barbed comment in the pilot episode of Boston Legal that considers the abuse of surgical enhancement. Could this remark be a veiled reference to Lara Flynn Boyle and her constantly altering features?I feel it is about time that the complete series of this excellent show should be released on DVD.

I just recently started watching the reruns of this TV serious "THE PRACTICE" and imediately fell in love with it. My husband found it one day by pure accident while channel surfing. Now he can't miss a single episode. I catch it as often as I can due to my work schedule. Last week he asked me to order the missing episodes (All seasons)for him on DVD as a Christmas present, but I couldn't find it anywhere, (thus the reason for me finding this particular website). Now, I've heard that it isn't even out yet. How terribly disappointing this is.Neither one of us can remember the last time we'd been hooked on a television serious that caused us to fall victim to them so quickly, but this one was different. It was unsuspecting, yet willfully done. I can't wait to catch all the missing episodes. My only problem now is explaining why it won't be under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. If you haven't seen this serious yet, you just don't know what you are missing. We absolutely love it.

Network: ABC; Genre: Legal Drama; Content Rating: TV-14 (for language, adult content, and occasionally strong violence); Available: syndication; Classification: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4); Season Reviewed: Complete Series (8 seasons) "The Practice" started humbly on Saturday nights and creator/super-producer David E. Kelley built it into one of the most unique legal dramas on TV. Courtroom dramas where, and still are in many ways, a popular thing, but "The Practice" deviated from the norm with a more intriguing concept. It is the story of, not just lawyers, but defense attorneys who struggle to do their job for the greater integrity of the legal system even if it means setting a guilty murderer Scott free. It puts some intriguing moral questions in the lap of the audience and lets us sort them out.As the show progresses, these moral dilemmas take their toll on the characters. Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott) and Eugene (Steve Harris) become beaten down, intentionally getting the life literally pounded out of their once lively personalities. Jimmy (Michael Baddallucco) goes from grunt to whiner and Eleanor Front (Camryn Manheim) gets on her angry soap box and lectures everybody, on screen and in the audience, more and more. Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle) and DA Walsh (a good Bill Smitrovich) also appear on the edge of collapse by loosing to the firm. Lindsey (Kelli Williams) is increasingly driven mad, stalked by one client after another. Her mid-series marriage to Bobby brings about one of the most unhappy and chemistry-less unions in recent TV memory. Then there is Rebecca Washington (Lisa Gay Hamilton) whom I never cared for and Lucy Hatcher (Marla Sokoloff) whose perky act becomes refreshing the duller the main characters get.No, "The Practice" may not be remembered for its protagonists, but there is a good chance it will be remembered for the villains that walk through the door as clients. Henry Winkler as a bug fetish dentist, John Larroquette Emmy-winning terrific as egomaniacal, homosexual serial killer Joey Heric, Michael Monks as the classically meek George Vogelman and Michael Emmerson as the series' creepiest character, William Hinks. The sheer nastiness of the defendants are where this show shines.The longer it went the more tired of itself the show got. A season 7 client who thought he was Superman found a new low. I loved it sometimes and hated it others, but I kept watching. It kept dragging me along, through its improbability, recycled twists, deflating characters and Kelley's trademark political posturing. But it was a fun antidote to the dryer "Law & Orders" of the world. With Kelley's mountain of TV legal experience behind him and his trademark sensationalized execution. Kelley is also not above lengthy outbursts of psychotic violence to shock the audience. It is pot-boiler, melodramatic fun. It is not hard-and-fast with the law, more of a laymen's "Law & Order", but some wild stories and ending twists give it an edge other shows don't have. "Practice" specializes in the shocking twist. There is an unforgettable, brilliantly set-up, dozy of a shocker at the end of the 3th season. There is a shocking, unsettling, death of a major character at the end of the 5th season. Both are series high seasons. I may not see a nun the same way again.I swore I would never watch again after Kelley through a fit and a massive "budget cutting" round of firings gutted all but 3 members of the regular staff, including stout series star McDermott. In the 8th and final season Kelley seems to have lost interest entirely in this show and these characters. James Spader joins the cast to pump some life into it and pump he does. The show becomes must-see TV again following Alan Shore's (Spader) over-the-top antics and, constantly threatened with termination, wonder how far he will go next. Kelley refocuses and Alan Shore becomes his new love and Spader is larger than life.The final few episodes of the series, including a drab finale, serve merely to set up Kelley's Alan Shore spin-off series, tentatively titled "The Practice: Fleet Street". If what we've seen already is any indication the new show is a logical transition from a dying one and something worth waiting for.* * * / 4

I was an avid watcher of THE PRACTICE when ABC was still spitting out new episodes, especially from seasons five through seven, though I have seen episodes from all the seasons and I watched a lot at the end of season eight. THE PRACTICE, first off, is a first-rate, thoughtful, intelligent, witty show. It is a shining star in the smog-filled sky that is TV today. The stars were made on that show, a good reflection of how great the show is. I love the way there would often, but not always, by that third or fourth act be an AH HA! moment, just enough to make one start to nod in unison with the characters.Bobby Donnell as the lead character, until the last season, was so smart at times, making a really good path in life and as an attorney. And at times he was so self-destructive and stupid one wonders if he had been cloned or had an identical but dumb twin. Bobby also let his cases get too personal some, but not all of the time. Lindsay Dole was somebody who you could always root for. But, she was definitely flawed. She was stubborn to the point of ridiculous behavior sometimes. She looked at her relationship with Bobby through all stages as one where she always had to do something about that big lug, due to his clearly compromised sense of what was appropriate in any given situation. She truly and sincerely thought that she was ALWAYS right. She didn't know she was being unfair, rude, and arrogant and walking all over Bobby. At least I'm pretty sure of all that. Otherwise she was just a callous, cruel person.I found Eugene and Eleanor's treatment of Rebecca strange at the end of the seventh season. Eugene seemed to structure decisions without regard to how they would impact Rebecca or maybe he hoped to alienate her and force her to quit and take her talents elsewhere. Now I must stress, I'm not trying to say what she did or did not do, but that's what Eugene seemed to want, regardless of what Bec did after learning of an authoritarian directive.I think the differences between David E. Kelly's L.A. LAW and David E. Kelley's THE PRACTICE have to be made clear. L.A. LAW was fantastic and excellent most, if not all, of the time. THE PRACTICE was great most, if not all, of the time. Both shows feature high-quality character development, but that takes something of a back seat on THE PRACTICE to bizarre murders. Both series explore the impact of one's actions on more than the just the obvious players. On THE PRACTICE that is less subtle and more integral to the show. But most keenly is the difference in the fair, just outcome vs. the actual outcome of the trials. On L.A. LAW one comes away saying, 'It may have been harsh' or 'It may have been too lenient in some ways' but either way (USUALLY) 'That verdict was fair and just'. On THE PRACTICE, one usually comes away saying 'That was HARSH' or 'I can't believe that person just got put back on the streets' but either way saying 'That jury must be insane or decided to intentionally give the wrong verdict just to complement the defendant's impeccable grooming habits and fine manners'. I don't think, given how the setting is the U.S.A. in the present day, that the outcome is almost ever realistic. TV viewers want some escapism, but not LAW AND ORDER: ANIMAL HOUSE-STYLE. The bizarre murders highlighted repeatedly probably result from the number of juries that don't believe in convicting people or are anarchists.Overall, THE PRACTICE is a series one must decide to watch to enjoy the first fifty-five minutes, and not for the sake of enjoying the last five (when the verdict is read).