...a watchable courtroom drama as perfunctory and efficient as any other upmarket Hollywood product.
Francis Ford Coppola, who wrote and directed the film, has made the most of Grisham's ground-level realism. This is not a film that loves the legal profession, and yet it loves some of those who labor in it...
In the lead role, Matt Damon does a fine job portraying the uncertainty of someone who believes he has the moral high ground, but realizes that his lack of experience could lose the case.