The first round is complete in our quest to crown the greatest work of legal fiction of all time. We have winners and losers and new matchups to vote on. Today we focus on the results from our movie region and our book region. Unlike the basketball tournament, most of our matchups in these regions went according to seed. Even the upsets were, in retrospect, predictable.
Let’s get right to it. For this round, you have until 9 a.m. on Friday, March 23 to vote.
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(1) Legally Blonde vs. (9) Michael Clayton — Legally Blonde obliterated its first-round opponent and enters the second round with all the momentum in the world. Michael Clayton, on the other hand, proved it was the fittest by surviving a bout with Inherit the Wind by 1 vote.
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(2) A Few Good Men vs. (10) Amistad — Rob Reiner vs. Steven Spielberg. A Few Good Men ordered a code red on The Devil’s Advocate, dispensing it with 84 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Amistad upset Justice Scalia’s favorite tale. It’s not the first time Justice Blackmun — who starred in Amistad — disappointed Scalia.
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(3) 12 Angry Men vs. (11) Liar, Liar — Here’s another clash of styles. Would the self-serious Henry Fonda vehicle been improved if he’d lectured other jurors by talking out of his butt?
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(4) The Verdict vs. (5) Philadelphia — Sidney Lumet has two entries in the second round, having directed both The Verdict and 12 Angry Men.
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(1) A Time to Kill vs. (9) The Trial — A curious juxtaposition here. A man on trial for a crime he freely admits to committing against a man on trial for a crime he never knows he committed. There’s probably something meaningful about that. Maybe not.
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(2) The Paper Chase vs. (7) The Lincoln Lawyer — What does it say about our profession that Wooderson is the face of the law? Time to Kill, The Lincoln Lawyer, Amistad… McConaughey is Hollywood’s vision of a lawyer and that’s… a thing.
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(3) The Firm vs. (11) Crime & Punishment — Still not convinced that Crime & Punishment is actually a “legal” novel, but it narrowly edged out Anatomy of a Murder to stay in the game.
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(4) Native Son vs. (5) Pelican Brief — Three of the four matchups in this round feature Grisham novels. Grisham is to writing about lawyers what McConaughey is to portraying lawyers.
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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.