What makes it different from others?

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

What's not to like about this movie? Wonderful script with almost every i dotted and every t crossed, and yet neither formulaic or predictable. All of the actors did an excellent job of interpreting and portraying their characters. The guy who played the hayseed farmer was so good at doing that he deserves an award for best supporting actor. About the only fault I can think of is that the motive of the bad guy was perhaps not made entirely clear.All in all an excellent legal drama movie and well worth watching!

If you like movies with morals or subjects that can open the line of communication with your teenage children and older, this is the movie for you. It is a thought provoking movie relating to capital punishment, suicide, death in general, and the grieving process. It illustrates the importance of honesty, good character, hard work, and having faith. The movie showed, that by putting your all into something and not giving up, that you can make a difference. It showed the error of judging a person based on pass misdeeds and how a past mistake can follow you in life. It reminds us that there are always two sides to a story and that we should get all the facts before making a judgment. I think this movie is really good and that the main character, the lawyer, did a great job. It is a movie that I feel should be watched with company so that afterwards you can discuss/debate the movies heavy subject matter. This movie is so much more than just a "who done it" and is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again. After watching this movie, you may not be inclined to talk about it, but I feel you will want to talk about the various topics presented. Great movie to watch in a high school or college classroom, bereavement or church group, or setting for at risk teens.

If one sees The Trial on DVD or on a television broadcast, hasten to assure yourselves you will not be seeing the Orson Welles film The Trial or a remake thereof. If you see it stars Matthew Modine than make sure you catch it.The film opens with Modine who has been unable to come to grips with the death of his wife and children ready to blow the top of his head off with a revolver. As he's ready to do the deed, a phone call comes.It's from Judge Rance Howard who wants to get Modine back in the among the living and in the practice of his profession. He appoints him the defense attorney of young Randy Wayne who is accused of the murder of his sweetheart, the daughter of a prominent family in the area. He plied her with 'roofies' to loosen her inhibitions and he's taken them himself. When he came down he finds himself with her dead body and no memory of the crime at all.He gets all his courtroom skills back, it's like riding a bicycle, once learned it all comes back. But this is a tough case and he needs the assistance of psychologist Claire Carey, research assistant Nikki Deloach and most of all Robert Forster his late wife's brother for some heavy muscle and a bit of detective work. The answer is quite a bit more involved than a case of 'roofies' gone bad.Modine who also produced this gives a carefully delineated performance of a lawyer being brought back to life in his profession and every day living. In the end he has reason to thank the Deity for being spared in the tragedy that overtook his family.The Trial has the look and feel of a television pilot and I'm sure Matthew Modine is trying to sell it to one of the networks. I do hope he succeeds.

I am always looking for good films to watch with my family. Last night, we sat down with our kids (13 and 15) and watched THE TRIAL.It was refreshing to see a movie that had a simple message and for once not have that message rammed down our throats. My grandmother died recently and some of the elements from the film really helped.I loved the cast. Matthew Modine has always been a favorite and this seemed like one of the few recent films he's done that really challenged him. Now... as a Southerner it was nice to see no real stereotypes and yet everything seemed natural. I think it helped that they let actors like Robert Forster just be himself instead of putting on a fake accent.All in all, we liked it and recommend it.