Norman Jewison directs Al Pacino, Jack Warden and Jeffrey Tambor in this satirical drama about the modern day court system. 

Sold as a political thriller on the DVD blurb, this feels more like a dated sitcom pilot. Not a very funny one at that. Even the closing credits has Pacino breaking the fourth wall, staring at us incredulously, while a sub-Randy Newman recap of events is sung cheerily at us. It is a film that alludes to three separate rapes. I think Jewison’s aim is to bring a scathing, Catch-22 style madcap portrait of a screwed up bureaucracy. Instead we get a weak stew of corruption and zaniness ending in a much needed Pacino speech. Albiet a Pacino speech with zero HO-HA!s.

4