The words of this review title happened to be written in pen on the videotape box of this movie that I checked out of the library. Whoever wrote them told no lie.
The movie is based on Alan Dershowtiz's book of the same title, where he takes on the appeal of the attempted murder conviction of socialite Klaus von Bulow, who allegedly tried to murder his wife Sunny through an injection of insulin. Dershowitz tells this to his group of college-age legal helpers, one of whom tries to drop out in disgust, but Dershowitz changes her mind by telling her that the idea is to get the money to continue their pro bono legal quest to help two young black ghetto kids who are also facing criminal charges. Dershowitz also mentions that the state of Rhode Island's judiciary has a corrupt legal system. Also, when they do a test of how liquid coats straws, it suggests that the evidence that von Bulow might have injected Sunny with insulin might not be so real after all.
Jeremy Irons gives a good performance as an icy, haughty aristocrat, both in his scenes with Dershowitz and his legal team and with the flashback scenes with him and Sunny. Also, Dershowitz is shown as haughty and pompous in his own right, even if his heart is supposedly in the right place. And the movie does not make any conclusions as to whether von Bulow was guilty or not; no surprise when Dershowitz's tactic was to cast doubt on the evidence that his client actually made any attempt to kill his wife, even if he had a motive to do so. Indeed, the movie implies that Sunny had mental problems and was probably suicidal.
Dershowitz might have wanted to come across as a hero doing his job. The latter is certainly true, but he has proved no more heroic than any other defense lawyer.
The movie is based on Alan Dershowtiz's book of the same title, where he takes on the appeal of the attempted murder conviction of socialite Klaus von Bulow, who allegedly tried to murder his wife Sunny through an injection of insulin. Dershowitz tells this to his group of college-age legal helpers, one of whom tries to drop out in disgust, but Dershowitz changes her mind by telling her that the idea is to get the money to continue their pro bono legal quest to help two young black ghetto kids who are also facing criminal charges. Dershowitz also mentions that the state of Rhode Island's judiciary has a corrupt legal system. Also, when they do a test of how liquid coats straws, it suggests that the evidence that von Bulow might have injected Sunny with insulin might not be so real after all.
Jeremy Irons gives a good performance as an icy, haughty aristocrat, both in his scenes with Dershowitz and his legal team and with the flashback scenes with him and Sunny. Also, Dershowitz is shown as haughty and pompous in his own right, even if his heart is supposedly in the right place. And the movie does not make any conclusions as to whether von Bulow was guilty or not; no surprise when Dershowitz's tactic was to cast doubt on the evidence that his client actually made any attempt to kill his wife, even if he had a motive to do so. Indeed, the movie implies that Sunny had mental problems and was probably suicidal.
Dershowitz might have wanted to come across as a hero doing his job. The latter is certainly true, but he has proved no more heroic than any other defense lawyer.