Hot-shot celebrity defense attorney James Garner is the Billy Flynn ("Chicago's" power-struck lawyer) of the modern world, slamming Ted Koppel for reporting on environmental issues rather than his latest case. Garner has hired a naive farm boy newcomer (Edward Kern) to represent his newest client, hot "B" actress Gina Gershon, and ends up in a modern day Frank Capra movie where Garner is Edward Arnold and Kern is both Gary Cooper and James Stewart. Kerr charms the pants off the press with his seemingly home-spun charm that flatters various groups, including the coalition for nerve deafness (as Kern's earpiece which gives him Garner's instructions seems to be a hearing aid), various rifle associations who praise Gershon for killing her lecherous brother-in-law in self-defense.But a powerful journalist (the always mesmerizing Kathleen Turner) sees through the hype (like an older version of Jean Arthur) and goes out of her way to toss Kerr off his comfortable tractor throne.
I love it when the tabloid press is exposed for the slime it is, and like the musical "Chicago", this film gets its digs in at an occupation that viciously goes after scandal rather than report on what is really consequential news, and the society that eats it up like cotton candy at a summer fair. This movie is so entertaining that unless members of the tabloid press are so blinded by their own self-importance they might find themselves laughing at it while seeing themselves in the mirror.
The wonderful Garner is still one of the most charismatic men in films and gives a performance that is both authoritative and commanding. He doesn't asked to be liked, putting to rest memories of him in all of those charming comedies of the 1960's and '70's. Turner always dominates whatever project she takes on, whether supporting or in the lead, and with that voice turning each line into icy vinegar, there is a sexiness and masterful presence that seduces you no matter how much you despise her character. Gershon, Kerr and Mary Louise Parker (as the grieving sister and widow) give capable performances, but they don't get to be as showy as their veteran costars, although Gershon looks hot in her female bed attire.Their strength of characterizations build as the film explodes to a hot showdown. While this expose on the abuse of freedom of the press may not change how tabloids work, it certainly opens the viewer's eyes to the public's sick fascination with this kind of trash that has turned humanity into dirty-minded scandal mongers.
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