Word: kirklands
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Gregory Peck's Atticus is an especially hard act to follow, but Jewison found a superb successor in the person of Al Pacino. Pacino, who plays Arthur Kirkland, the film's do-good hero, first made the big time as Michael in The Godfather. He made it again as the run down hero of Serpico thee years ago, but there's been a drought since. Now comes Arthur Kirkland, who works perfectly for Pacino because he's a blend of Michael Corleone and Serpico. Like Corleone, Kirkland wants to do everything himself; like Serpico, he's a man fighting society...
...best thing about Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson's choppy, overstated and confusing script is its interplay of satire and serious drama. They balance the two perfectly, switching, for instance, from a frenzied scuffle between courtroom guards and one of Kirkland's clients, to a bitter confrontation in the courthouse hall with a disdainful and cruel judge...
Another serious touch is the tenderness of Kirkland's grandfather, Sam, the guiding force in the young lawyer's life. At one point, Kirkland tells his grandfather's friend, "You know if he (Sam) goes. I don't know what I'd do." But Jewison chooses an odd route of saving us from this terrifying conclusion--he never mentions Sam again...
...Kirkland: You think you re doing something, but you're just skimming the surface. You're missing the real power...
...Kirkland: You don't know? You mean you really don't know...