Legalese (1998)

When a TV actress (Gina Gershon) is accused of murdering her sister's (Jill Sayre) husband (Julian Stone), she attempts to hire a famous celebrity attorney (James Garner). But the attorney decides to use an inexperienced lawyer (Edward Kerr) as a front and work behind the scenes. Directed by Glenn Jordan (ONLY WHEN I LAUGH), this is an entertaining if highly cynical look at celebrity attorneys, the media and how justice is often irrelevant when high profile cases become judged in the media rather than the courtroom. Garner's character is morally bankrupt but Garner's such a likable presence that you can't help but like him even while you're appalled at his lack of ethics. Kerr (looking like Ryan Reynolds' twin brother) is appealing and he has an easy chemistry with Mary Louise Parker as Garner's assistant. The film's jaundiced eye on the legal profession is rather refreshing actually and it spares us the ethics lecture and leaving it to us to come to our own conclusions. With Kathleen Turner as a tabloid TV journalist, Brian Doyle Murray and Keene Curtis.