Primal Fear

...of course the crime is sensational and the revelations are startling. But the character of Martin Vail is so well done that it could have supported a smaller, more plausible movie.

Edward Norton, whose performance might remind viewers of Kevin Spacey's Oscar-winning turn in The Usual Suspects.

Oleaginous, headline-hogging attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere, in the part he was born to play) takes on the defense of young Aaron (Edward Norton), a sweet-tempered rube who stands accused of butchering a prominent Chicago cleric.

Gere is at his best early on in Primal Fear, when his thin nostrils smell a ripe, juicy case.