University of Virginia Library

Film Review

The Friday Night Blues

By Carl Erickson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

There was quite a difference
between the crowd of University
people who entered the Paramount
last Friday night for a free preview
showing of "The Lawyer" and the
crowd who finally left the theater
at 1:30 a.m. The entering group
possessed the hedonistic joy of
people who had finally discovered
something to do on a Friday night
in Charlottesville. They joke about
the line; they shouted to friends;
and when the doors finally opened,
they surged forward in a frantic
wave of anarchy. Once inside they
continued the shouting, now and
then flinging beer cans at the
screen. What the hell. It was free
wasn't it?

Wahoos Cop Out

About the time the second beer
can hit the stage, I figured that this
was going to be one hell of a movie
and I might as well sit back and dig
the audience reactions which, I was
sure, were going to be just as
interesting as the film. As cheers
greeted the opening credits, I
relaxed in anticipation of the
experience. Alas, my expectations
were all for naught. The film began
and spontaneity was supplanted by
sedateness. The Wahoos had let me
down.

In all fairness, however, I must
say that they were not to blame.
"The Lawyer" is not bad enough to

warrant a joyous barrage of catcalls
and wisecracks. However, it is not
good enough to licit interested
concentration either. Consequently
the previously boisterous audience
could only relapse into the shady
area of mild interest.

The film may be categorized as a
courtroom drama for indeed a large
part of its action takes place in such
surroundings. However, the legal
proceedings contain anything but
drama, serving mainly as a stage for
the cute histrionics of the brotherly
lawyers. Both of the advocates
prove to be occasionally entertaining
but more often than not, their
sly humor becomes irritating and
the viewer impatiently waits for a
solution which never comes.

I found myself dreading the
moment when one of the witnesses
would break down and confess, a la
Perry Mason. The director, Sidney
J. Fure, mercifully spares us in this
respect but how successful is his
own ambiguous twist? I think the
lawyer's alternative story convinces
the audience of the "real" criminal's
guilt and consequently we feel
robbed when the case remain
unsolved. The director has chosen
the lesser of two evils, but in so
doing has not cased our curiosity.
No doubt, unsolvable cases exist
but why pretend that this one is
unfathomable?

Pacing Hurts

The film also suffers from
intolerably poor pacing. Sequences
are rapidly disposed of in the
beginning only to have boringly
lengthy ones take their place in the
remainder of the film. However, even
in earlier scenes, the constant
screeching of brakes proves to be
annoying and not exciting.

The crowd that left the Paramount
last Friday was a subdued
one. Unable to relax in enjoyment
or participate in joyous rowdyism
they left unsatisfied wondering still
if there really is anything to do on a
Friday night in Charlottesville.
Don't ask me. I'm sure I don't
know.

("The Lawyer" begins its regular
run at the Paramount today.)