The 2016 Standard of Review awards are finally here, celebrating the year’s best in legal entertainment. Thank you to all the voters out there who made their voices heard (i.e., only me). Without further ado, and without any stilted banter from mismatched actors, here are the awards (which run the gamut from serious to irreverent):
Worst Cleveland Sports Supporter — Wallace Mahoney from How To Get Away With Murder
One of the major storylines on How To Get Away With Murder in 2016 was Annalise Keating’s legal defense of the son of Wallace Mahoney, the hedge fund king of Cleveland. Having a financial titan live in Cleveland is a very specific and very random character choice, which became even more peculiar when Mahoney moves to New York City at some point before the spring of 2016. But just as Mahoney leaves, Cleveland all of a sudden becomes a sports hotbed; the Cavaliers win their first NBA Championship in team history and the Cleveland [Racist Mascot]s almost win the World Series. Cleveland’s sports success was surely a punishment for Mahoney leaving the Mistake on the Lake.
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Most Anti-Climactic Goodbye — Gina Torres from Suits
Once upon a time, there was a wonderful television show called Firefly that FOX cancelled way way way too early. Firefly was a show about a spaceship of outlaws, and it deftly blended science fiction, adventure, drama, and comedy. One of its (many) standout actors was Gina Torres as Zoё, the ship’s tough but witty second-in-command. Since Firefly, Torres has bounced around over the years from role to role, but she finally found a home as Jessica Pearson on Suits. Even though Jessica never was Suits’s standout character (indeed, I rarely even wrote about her), I was always happy to have Torres around. However, in Suits’s autumn finale, Jessica decides to leave the firm and do something else with her life. This twist comes out of nowhere; Suits lays no groundwork for why such a driven attorney would make this life-altering decision. Jessica Pearson deserves better. It turns out that Torres is joining the cast of ABC’s The Catch. Not only do I not watch The Catch, but I don’t even know anyone that watches The Catch. Gina Torres deserves better.
2016’s Least Likely Person to Be The Subject Of Legal Entertainment — Merrick Garland
After the passing of Justice Scalia, President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to take his seat left me excited at the prospect of a movie about Garland’s life. I dreamed of a prestige drama starring John Slattery as the D.C. Circuit judge, or maybe even an action movie starring Vin Diesel. Alas, it was not meant to be, as Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election means that we will never get a fantasy film about Merrick of House Garland’s epic quest.
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Legal Show I Miss The Most — The Grinder
Hey, remember two paragraphs ago when I lamented how FOX prematurely cancelled Firefly in 2003? Well, thirteen years later it did the same thing with its hilarious legal comedy The Grinder. The show started slowly, but caught fire in 2016 as it decreased its focus on family life and doubled down on its parody of legal dramas. The cast was terrific (even though the show never figured out how to use William Devane) and I was looking forward to the second season. Now, after being cancelled, The Grinder is just a bad punchline by Ann Coulter at the Comedy Central roast of Rob Lowe (yes that really happened).
Best Performance in a Legal Television Show Or Movie — Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: An American Crime Story
Although I sort of remember the O.J. Simpson trial, I was too young to really understand what was going on. I knew that Simpson’s main attorney was someone named Johnnie Cochran, but my conception of him was based on later parodical depictions, such as Jackie Chiles on Seinfeld. Thus, I was surprised when Cochran was the most compelling character in FX’s excellent The People v. O.J. Simpson: An American Crime Story, mostly due to the acting of Courtney B. Vance. Vance has been a character actor for over twenty years, and audiences had recently seen him as Miles Dyson in Terminator Genisys, the film that simultaneously insulted Terminator fans and those who like spelling words correctly. But I was unprepared for Vance’s fantastic performance as Cochran. Vance brought Cochran alive, perfectly illustrating how Cochran could turn instantly from flamboyant courtroom performer to a cool, brilliant legal mind. Vance accomplished the great feat of turning a punchline into a three-dimensional character.
Best Legal Film — Loving
I still cannot believe that comedian Nick Kroll played an attorney in the otherwise serious film Loving. And he was not bad! Kroll certainly did not give an Oscar-worthy performance, but he didn’t distract from the main narrative of the film: the relationship between Richard and Mildred Loving, the couple who successfully challenged Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law. Lead actors Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga perfectly encapsulate the difficulty that comes with being the faces behind this trailblazing lawsuit, and how that puts stress on their marriages and their lives. For some reason, Loving seems to have fallen out of the Academy Award race, but it would be a mistake for the Academy to snub the film and the lead actors. I have occasionally lamented how infrequently Hollywood makes quality legal films, which is why Loving is such a breath of fresh air.
Best Legal Novel — The Curve
I rarely laugh out loud while reading anything. Typically, even the funniest written words lead me to merely chuckle. But that was not the case with The Curve, a legal novel by Jeremy Blachman and Cameron Stracher, released this past summer. The Curve tells the story of a rundown law school adjacent to the Gowanus Canal in which the students have no job prospects and the professors are unmotivated. The satire is buoyed by series of pictures that lead each chapter depicting something humorous related to the law school, such as a chain of emails to a professor or the law school job board.
Best Legal Television Show — Better Call Saul
I love a good montage. And the second season of AMC’s Better Call Saul contained two montages for the ages. The first cuts between an inflatable tube man whipping around in the wind and Jimmy’s increasingly absurd behavior in his attempt to be fired. The second depicts Kim Wexler as she makes numerous phone calls in an attempt to drum up business as she walks all around the law firm office. Those two scenes are microcosms of why I so enjoy Better Call Saul. Not only does it have compelling characters and brilliant acting, but the show is so visually dynamic. A distinct montage, or stunning cinematography, can really underscore a show’s themes. For that reason, Better Call Saul is my favorite legal television show of 2016.
See you in 2017!
Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.