RIFLE RANGE BOY

And Justice for All (1979) Director: Norman Jewison During one of those festivities gatherings, we managed to pin down one of our old schoolmates. That was quite an achievement, for he was and still is a senior partner in one of KL's outstanding law firms. We created a hypothetical situation. What if he, as a lawyer, either gets a client who admits his crime at the onset or, along the course of the trial, would he still continue to defend his client? In so many words, with mentions of the right to proper legal representation and duty to the client, our layman's minds understood that he would still continue defending his client. His task was to ensure that his client was free of his charge. Of course, he would not purposely make his opponent win, knowing pretty well that his client committed the offence. Nowhere in the conversation was justice and seeking the truth uttered. Justice is what the court determines, and the truth is what is argued out.  This must have been what the S...

Dog day afternoon (1975) What makes this bank robbery movie different from others of the same genre? We have bombarded with too many stories with nitty gritty technical details of planning and execution. DDA, however, appears to me like a satire of sorts. By the way, DDA just a poetic way of saying 'a scorching hot afternoon'. The bank heist shown on screen these days are so high-tech. The amounts planned to be robbed are in gargantuan proportions and their modus operandi is usually much bigger - including world domination, anarchy, terrorism and even nuclear warheads. In the 70s, it was a political statement. It is about the small man fighting a system dominated by greedy enterprises and politicians. This film is based on a real story.  It starts with 3 bumbling amateurs holding up a bank. Just as they unleash their weapons in the premises, one of the gang of three get cold feet and requested to be out. And off we goes, walking out the bank! The bumbling remaining duo -...

Serpico 1973 Soon after 'Godfather', Serpico became Al Pacino's stepping atone to stardom. I do not know if it is based on a true story but it had a biographical feel to its presentation. It tells the story of a cop who joined the force thinking that he could uphold justice but soon discovers that the whole policing force has rot to the core. To find an honest cop seems like an oxymoron which is more difficult to find than finding a proverbial needle in the haystack. After finding dead-ends after dead-ends and lethargic feet dragging 'honest' cops, Serpico is shot in the face and meets a premature retirement. This disillusioned man leaves the country to live in Switzerland in the end of the film.. In midst of his turmoil at his work place, this frustrated man has to deal with the demands of his female companion/ girlfriend. Even though they (he had two at different times) were very patient with him, there was so much patience a person can have. They did not see ...