McCarthy had previously played Biff, one of Willy Loman's disillusioned sons, in the London production of Arthur Miller's play, in 1949. He received his first screen credit in Laslo Benedek's version of Death of a Salesman (1951). As it happened, he preferred to play politicians rather than be one. However mundane the material, it was usually enhanced by his lazy charm and natural elegance, his intriguing baritone voice and unconventional good looks – all attributes that might well have led him down the political path of his cousin, senator Eugene McCarthy. Movies that know how to mix the dangerous and the erotic often make edgy, highly diverting thrillers, but “Judicial Consent” is too obvious and too conscious of its form.Kevin McCarthy, who has died aged 96, notched up more than 70 years as a working actor on stage and screen, with more than 200 film and TV credits. As Martin, gifted character actor Coleman is wasted in an unrewarding role, while Wirth is there mostly to look good as the stranger with a “mysterious” motive. Will Patton, usually brilliant in small, offbeat roles, is miscast here in the underwritten role of Gwen’s bland husband we never get a sense of the kind of marriage the Warwicks have.

For instance, lawyers, particularly women, might find offensive a sex scene in Gwen’s office in which she’s shown reaching orgasm while negotiating an important assignment on the telephone. Dark lofts, swinging doors, empty parking lots and so on are all nicely handled, but they’re also familiar to an audience that always seems to be ahead of the pic’s characters.īedelia gives a charming, dominating performance, but the woman she plays is too intelligent and too bright to behave in such a senseless manner. Though a first-time helmer, Bindley gives his picture a smooth and polished look, displaying some mastery over the genre’s tricks - and visual cliches. The courtroom format relies heavily on finely tuned dialogue and unanticipated revelations, but Bindley’s writing, specifically in the court sequences, is borderline banal and the disclosures aren’t particularly suspenseful. Realizing she’s been set up, Gwen begins a desperate race against time to prove her innocence. Soon, what seemed “circumstantial” evidence turns out to be a well-planned murder, with Gwen as the prime suspect.

When Gwen’s roguish colleague, Charles Matron (Dabney Coleman), “a chronic flirt,” is found dead in his office, she’s asked to preside over the case.

Judicial consent 1994 full movie