Murder in the First

Takes a while to get going and set out the premise but in the end a reasonable courtroom drama, with some strong performances.

An exceptional film which zips through its 2 hours running time and which completely draws you in to Henri Young's nightmare. My downgraded ranking is not only because it is miles from the actual truth but I feel there was a degree of miscasting. Bacon's performance was excellent, but somewhat "gollumesque". Macy was wasted, Gierasch was "bumbling", Slater was ineffectual & only Oldman had real menace. That aside, the story is brilliantly told & filmed, and the sister scene, truly heartbreaking.

Overwrought, over-directed, over-performed drama actually becomes more entertaining as it progresses (and becomes progressively more goofy). Whether it's Bacon's scenery chewing portrait of pained torture (with real-life wife Sedgwick turning up briefly to rob him of his virginity!), Ermey as a courtroom judge (!), courtroom histrionics which would not be convincing to an inexperienced lay-person, and Oldman stuck in his 90s over-the-top villainous mode, nothing really convinces... [Full review]

Kevin Bacon gives an outstanding performance in this courtroom drama. The story is interesting and there are some good supporting performances. Gary Oldman is under used and Embeth Davidtz does not get to do much.

While its very hard to look past the miscast that is Christian Slater, this is a very entertaining movie. Who cares how truthful it is, because it gives light to the atrocities that were, no doubt, rampant through out the penal system for hundreds of years. Bacon gives a great performance, albeit a little over acted. Why the hell does Oldman not have more work and multiple Oscars?

Hapishane, alcatraz, hücre cezasi, iskence, cinayet, ispiyon, avukat, durusma, mahkeme, basari, arkadaslik, yetim (sadece 5 dolar caldigi alcatraza düsen ve firar ederken yakalanip hücre cezasi alan burada yogun iskence gören henri hücre cazsi bittigi gün kendisini ispiyonlayan kisiyi kasikla öldürmüstür. bu umutsuz dava yeni mezun bir avukata verilmistir. avukat önce henrinin güvenini kazanacak sonra alkatrazdaki pisligi ortaya cikaracaktir. sürükleyici ve güzel. bir kac müstehncen sahne var.

Not a great movie but I will watch Oldman do just about anything. Bacon gives it his all as well.

These socially-conscious movies with "important subjects" always seem to have an irritating undercurrent of self-congratulation, and this is no exception.

Overspillet, forudsigelig og patetisk - men i bund og grund en spændende historie.

Awesome, shocking movie, based on a true story. A movie about the prison Alcatraz in the years '30. I must confess it was really shocking and I do not know if everything seen in this movie is trueful correct, fantastic performance of Bacon. Unbelievable that the USA nowadays still have the death-penalty.

Heavy-handed and uneven despite excellent performances by top-notch cast. Oldman does his usual fine job with yet another unsympathetic character, the sadistic warden. Major professional landmark for both Slater and Bacon.

good movie

Something about this good movie makes it fall short of being a great movie, although it's difficult to say what - perhaps it's Christian Slater's lackluster performance, or perhaps it's Kevin Bacon being miscast as Henri Young (which in all honesty is a role which should have been played by someone of the caliber of Daniel Day Lewis). What this movie has got going for itself here is though, is a decent cast and a good story.

well acted

Completely miscast, although they tried very hard. With a different set of actors and a different director, this could have garnered an Oscar nom.

Great film with stunning role played by Bacon.