“Who are the judges?”: 5 interesting films and series about legal proceedings

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“Star Court” (2023)

He is an actor who grabbed luck by the tail, the owner of a solid fortune and the favorite of millions. She is a lesser celebrity, more known for social media than her work on set or stage. Once they were happy together, but the love boat crashed on ambition and star disease. She decided to monetize the divorce and “remember everything” in the book. He, having fallen under the rink of “cancellation culture”, is trying to defend his honest (or not so?!) name in the courtroom.

In the new TNT series, Maxim Lagashkin and Maria Gorban play a cartoonishly funny couple of tabloid heroes, who have not even a step from love to hate, but a school ruler of 30 cm. Lawyers performed by Igor Vernik and Irina Temicheva will incite spouses to showdown. It is clear that lawyers have their own interests, and sometimes even scores with each other. Whose side will Themis be on? And the audience? To really figure out who is right and who is wrong, you need to watch all eight episodes to the end.

“Good Wife” (2009 – 2016)

The series about Alicia Florrick – yesterday’s housewife with a law degree, who, due to circumstances, returns to work – has become a classic lawyer drama, and at the same time revived the career of Julianna Margulies from the ashes. Previously, the actress was known mainly for her role as a nurse in the 90s hit ER. The Good Wife lasted seven seasons, during which time Alicia went from a junior lawyer in a firm to high positions in the US judicial system (the heroine periodically changed jobs). Almost every episode is a new trial, where neither lawyers, nor prosecutors, nor viewers fully know whether the client is guilty. And, as usual, outside the courtroom, defenders and prosecutors actively sorted out the relationship with each other.

“The Good Wife” received many awards, including the “Golden Globe” for the performer of the role of Florrick. The series turned out to be so popular that after the finale, the creators also filmed the spin-off The Good Fight. His main character was the careerist Diane Lockhart, Alicia’s former boss. The series went on for six more seasons and ended only in the fall of last year.

“Judge” (2014)

What happens if you mix legal drama with family drama and spice it up with Robert Downey Jr.? A good film about eternal values! Downey Jr. here appears in the form of a contented nasty lawyer Hank Palmer. He doesn’t care if his clients are guilty and don’t give a damn what methods to defend their interests in court. The main thing is to pay more. Everything changes when Hank’s mother dies. He has to return to his hometown and renew his relationship with his father (Robert Duval). He, of course, is also a lawyer, who has worked as a judge for most of his life. And soon yesterday’s arbiter of other people’s destinies himself finds himself in the dock on suspicion of murder. Who will save him from prison? Of course, son!

In this film, the trial becomes also a process of learning – the parent and child, who for years did not find a common language, finally begin to talk to each other and look for common ground. And two talented Roberts – Downey Jr. and Duvall – turn on their talents to the maximum in order to play out this family conflict. Duval, by the way, was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film, which was well deserved.

“Better Call Saul” (2015 – 2022)

A rare case when the copy turned out to be not pale, but as bright as the unique original. “Better Call Saul” was created as a prequel to one of the main TV shows of our time, Breaking Bad, but it turned out to be just as good, and maybe even better. There is a reasonable explanation for this: the showrunner of the project, Vince Gilligan, did not give the “second child” to other authors, but personally took care of “Saul”. Although, not even Saul, because six years before the events of the Breaking Bad series, the lawyer appearing there was not named Saul Goodman, but Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). And in the future, where history periodically throws us, a lawyer with dubious taste in clothes also has a third name – Gene Takavik (by that time he will already leave the “practice” and will knead the dough for cinnamon buns in a diner).

Better Call Saul begins as a court dramedy about a lawyer with a criminal bent – Jimmy/Saul/Jean is always in trouble with the law and regularly gets involved in scams. As a result of many ups and downs, the story also ends in court, where the hero is reborn, and you no longer want to laugh, but to cry.

“Heavenly Court” (2011 – 2014)

A very sincere domestic project about a very unusual court. The main characters – Andrey Yuryevich Kozakov (Konstantin Khabensky) and Veniamin Petrovich Shvedov (Mikhail Porechenkov) – work as a prosecutor and lawyer, considering the affairs of life in the literal sense of the word. As conceived by the authors, all people after death go through a process where the divine servants of Themis present their earthly deeds to the jury. Those, in turn, must decide where the soul will go next – to heaven or hell. Rivals at work, but in the “interworld” Andrey and Benjamin are good friends. Sometimes they even get “contraband” – earthly food and alcohol, which are tastier than heavenly “nectar”. True, circumstances interfere with friendship: the prosecutor and the lawyer have to deal with the process of the new fiancé of the widow Andrey Nikita (Nikita Zverev). This is where the personal gets in the way of the professional.

Heavenly Judgment can be viewed both as a movie and as a mini-series. There is also a sequel about the adventures of two bosom friends-rivals. But, most importantly, in all episodes, the court, although heavenly, is not terrible and fair at all.