In this return to court for Sidney Lumet, director of the masterly 12 Angry Men, Paul Newman plays an alcoholic lawyer on the skids who fights to redeem himself when a medical malpractice case pits him against the power of the Catholic Church. Scripted by David Mamet, it's a compelling, if wordy, piece, rooted in liberalism and stubbornly refusing to deliver the promised fireworks. Newman was widely (and wrongly) tipped to win his first Oscar for his portrayal, but in truth he's caught acting a lot of the time and his character's self-disgust becomes a little heavy-going in places. Charlotte Rampling and James Mason are in the fine supporting cast.

Frank Galvin is a down-on-his-luck lawyer and reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing, when a former associate reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit by serving it to Galvin on a silver platter—all parties are willing to settle out of court. Blundering his way through the preliminaries, Galvin suddenly realizes that the case should actually go to court—to punish the guilty, to get a decent settlement for his clients... and to restore his standing as a lawyer.