The Law

This acclaimed muckraking drama by future Hollywood A-lister John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, WarGames) peels the lid off of the Los Angeles criminal justice system for a sobering glimpse of its many facets -- exploring every angle, from defense attorneys to solicitors to prosecutors. The central narrative follows an L.A. public defender named Murray Stone (Judd Hirsch) assigned to defend a dimwitted farmboy (Gary Busey) unjustly accused of torturing and killing a football star. During the sensational case, Stone finds himself surrounded by corruption and manipulation -- and discovers that although the football player sported a squeaky-clean image as a father and husband (and something of a religious man), he was actually a person of dubious morals and values, with a proclivity for bisexual orgies.