This movie starts out looking like other tales of New Yorkers traveling through the South, being falsely charged with murder and then having a sham trial. The age of the cars indicates that the time is the mid sixties, although the prominent role blacks have in the jury and law enforcement would place the time at least two decades later.

Joe Pesci plays a lawyer with dubious legal credentials who drives down to Alabama to defend his cousin and his cousin's friend. At first, Pesci comes across as a city bumpkin, totally in over his head, both legally and culturally. However, as the story unfolds, he proves his mettle as a lawyer. His courtroom performance at the end is very effective, although the last part of the trial is dominated by the performance of Marisa Tomei. It is obvious why she won an Oscar for best supporting actress.

This movie was billed as a comedy, but I do not see it as that. I would classify it as a semi-serious look at the legal system, where a man who has struggled for years to become a lawyer manages to find it within himself to be a great one.