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Miss It

Robert Redford can make great movies. So can Debra Winger, Darryl Hannah, Terence Stamp, Brian Dennehy and Ivan Reitman. This is not one of them. It's a mystery why so many capable people would embrace such a poor screenplay. The dialog in this movie - not to speak of the way it is filmed - is atrocious at times. This movie is not even mildly entertaining, starting with what would seem to be a halfway intriguing story (which you can figure out in about half a second anyway) and devolving and going downhill, rapidly and violently downhill, from there. Was this supposed to be a grand scheme for a TV series? Were all these talented people at such loose ends and at the exact same time and temporarily deprived of their good judgement that they all made the same mistake? Miss this one at all costs - it's painful.

Great cast despite plot shortfalls!

Come on, you have to admit that this film has a good cast with Debra Winger, Robert Redford, Daryl Hannah, and others in supporting roles like Christine Baranski. I like the fact that it was shot in New York City and not on location somewhere. No offense, Toronto or Vancouver but the backdrop does a good job. Remembering a time when the twin towers was still alive and kicking downtown. I liked the combination of Winger and Redford even though they disliked each other on the set according to rumors. Daryl Hannah plays Chelsea who seeks her father's art from crooked businessmen. She does an adequate job and proves that she's not just a pretty face. Daryl always plays shy very well but in this case, Chelsea is not shy at all. She is a bit rebellious and a performance artist with a fascination for fire. She teams up with Winger's character and later with Redford in more ways than can be said to prove her innocence and get justice served.

Subtle in parts, lightweight and easy to watch

You don't get actors like Redford and Winger anymore. The subtleties in their facial expressions, the humanness of their characters are evident in each move they make and each action. In a sense, there is no 'acting', since the storyline, the characters and the flow reach a natural confluence. The only character that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable is Daryl Hannah's Chelsea - the performance artist. Brian Dennehy is also a little underutilised, but the movie is really a swinger for both Winger and Redford who make their attraction and talent as attorneys believable.I've seen this movie about 5 times over the years and I never get sick of it. Though I know the plot, each time I find myself watching the actors rather than predicting the storyline. Its just great and really, so easy to watch and enjoy. There is humour, old fashioned romance, good IL' bad guys vs good guys, a bit of blood and gore and a lot of fine art thrown in. I highly recommend it!

I watched it because of Debra Winger.

"Robert Redford...got snookered badly" in this movie? What about Debra Winger? She is too good for this film, and the behind-the-scenes friction between her and Redford are only noticeable on-screen because of him. As usual, Debra's a pro. The movie is totally mediocre, though, even for a light-weight comedy. And what's up with Daryl Hannah? I was only a kid back in the 80's, so I don't remember. Was that woman actually taken seriously?

Anyhow, if you're a serious fan of any of the actors involved, you may enjoy this. Otherwise, don't do it.

80's Flashback

I remember watching this movie on cable and on T.V., I was too broke to go to the movies back then and I was only thirteen at the time so on a personal level it takes me back to a nice time,plus that ROD STEWART SONG " LOVE TOUCH " plays on my head especially the previews when DEBRA WINGER and ROBERT REDFORD plunge into a lake on a forklift or something like it..ITs like "WHO's JOHNNY" and "SHORT CIRCUIT " . You hear one and think of the other.

AMUSING ROMP THROUGH, WELL, TOO MANY THINGS

It doesn't stink as much as some reviewers have foisted off on this site, but don't go expecting a tight plot.

Somewhere along the way the scriptwriters seem to have gone berserk with expensive attempts to be all things to all people -- goofball romantic comedy, courtroom melodrama, high-octane thriller with flaming pyrotechnics. The overloaded plot revolves around an assistant D.A. who gets involved with a defense lawyer to solve a convoluted case that includes arson, art robbery, insurance fraud, even murder.

It's almost as if the plot was not the point. The 22-carat charisma of Robert Redford and the starry-eyed charm of Debra Winger is what keeps the film afloat with some delicious chemistry. Daryl Hannah is very effective as the spaced-out daughter, who spends most of the movie seeming sexy and/or guilty.

The whole mishmash ends up significantly less than the sum of its parts, which is sad because with only slightly better editing it stood on the brink of being an excellent film. That, it isn't.

Those eagles fly high (DVD)

The movie resolves around a trio of actors, where each one is very characterized. Some might say this setting is too much one-dimensional, but with this handful of excellent actors, the movie comes alive right now and the audience has just to appreciate the teamwork. All the more that, each character shows two opposite traits, so there is really depth in it, and it is fun to see all those people tangled with each other.So, ladies first: Hannah portrays a false-naïve but real-seductress daughter of a famous painter. She is totally convincing when she does her "performance". And if you are the kind to watch the end-credits, you will learn that she brought actively her creative impulse into it. Then, Winger acts as a willful but melting hearted advocate. At least, Redford is a goofy but strong attorney.The entire story takes place in New York, in 1986. So, twenty years after, it adds a certain nostalgic flavor to it.A good piece of art…

Too dumb to be funny

"Legal Eagles" is supposed to be a comedy. We're supposed to find the characters played by Robert Redford and Debra Winger to be amusing, their acrimonious relationship to be hilarious, and the way that they end up being partners despite all of the gibes to be romantically satisfying.

The problem is that the movie is too dumb to be taken seriously, and thus too dumb to be funny.

Briefly, the story takes place in New York. Robert Redford is an assistant District Attorney about to be promoted to be the DA. Debra Winger is a defense attorney, and Daryl Hannah is a young woman with emotional problems, and is Debra Winger's client. The plot involves a fire 20 years ago, when Daryl Hannah was eight, a fire that killed her artist father and purportedly destroyed a large number of his paintings. This experience left Daryl Hannah traumatized, but all is not as it seems, and now, 20 years later, Daryl Hannah is first accused of attempted theft and later of murder.

Unfortunately, the plot involves many elements that simply don't make sense. I won't go into detail, but Roger Ebert does a good job of listing four different major things that make the plot completely unbelievable.

As well as the story being dumb I found some of the scenes that were supposed to be funny to be anything but.


For example, Robert Redford is a weekend father to a teenage daughter. At one point his ex-wife threatens to go to court to prevent him from seeing their daughter. Robert Redford makes a telephone call to his ex-wife's home and starts an angry monologue of threats about how he'll take her apart in court. Then he realizes that he's actually talking to his daughter! This mistake is apparently supposed to be hilarious. Ha, ha.

In another scene Robert Redford and Debra Winger are together and see one of the bad guys. Robert Redford takes off on foot to try to catch him. Debra Winger, who doesn't know how to drive a car, feels it necessary for her to jump into Robert Redford's car and try to follow him. She makes a wrong turn and finds herself going the wrong way into traffic on a wide heavily trafficked street. There follows one minute of her frantically dodging cars at the last moment. Very funny. Ha, ha, ha.

This movie could have been a fairly good romantic thriller if they had fixed the plot and not tried to be a comedy. But the dumb plot and the unfunny attempts at comedy make it a complete waste of time.

Rennie Petersen

Favorite Flick

This is one of my all time fave flicks and the character of Thom Logan is indeed my all time favortie male character. I just wish they would release this movie in the extended letterbox format. The movie has a lot of nice twists and turns and with the additional footage it really has a good curve at the ending.

Purchase

I had been looking for this DVD and was thrilled to find it available and in excellent condition. The purchase transaction was very easy and delivery was prompt. It was an excellent transaction.

3 and 1/2 stars....Something About Debra

This review refers to the DVD(Universal/2003 release) edition of "Legal Eagles"...

Okay, okay,...so let's say you are entertaining beings from another planet. You are telling them about all the great talent we have here in the world of film. Included among that talent would of course be Robert Redford and Debra Winger. "Legal Eagles", although a fun, sometimes thrilling, and entertaining view, may not be the one, you would want to use as an example of all that talent! Maybe it was the chemistry(or lack of), maybe it was two great, but basically dramatic talents doing romantic comedy together, or perhaps the storyline, that mixes romantic comedy with a murder mystery, but probably a little of each of those things, keep this duo from being the shining example of what we expect from them on the screen.

The story is a complex but good one. It's a serio-comic look at some dirty dealings in the Art world with New York City as the centerpiece of all the action. An Asst. D.A. and a defense attorney, who's courtroom styles couldn't be more different, try to work together to prove the innocence of a client accused of first theft, and then murder. Chelsea Dearden, is the client, a young and beautiful performance artist, who, as a little girl, saw her talented father and all his artwork go up in flames. A painting, a gift from her father, may have survived the fire. Chelsea wants what is rightfully hers. How far will she go to obtain it?


The cast includes a host of fine talented actors. Daryl Hannah is Chelsea. She is wonderful at keeping us guessing about her guilt or innocence. One moment she is a child-like beauty, the next a sultry seductress. Brian Dennehy, Terrence Stamp, Steven Hill, and a young Christine Baranski add their marvelous talents as well. Directed by Ivan Reitman, who has a fine sense of comedy ("Ghostbusters"/"Stripes"), it is a film that will have you both smiling and intrigued. Elmer Bernstein, who knows a thing or two about movie scores adds his touch as well. A couple of added attractions to this film would be a look at some incredible artwork, and of course, being that this all takes place in the Big Apple, you'll see the WTC preserved on film.

I would suggest renting it if you haven't already seen it, as it is enjoyable, but probably not one that will watch repeatedly. If it is a film you already know you love and are interested in the DVD, you should go for it. The DVD presents a very nice picture in anamorphic widescreen. It has an informative look at the film with a "making of" featurette, English captions, and subtitles in French and Spanish.

With something for everbody... thrilling action, explosions, romance, courtroom scenes, comedy and drama, it is very much worth the view. There was just something about the mix, that kept if from being great.....enjoy...Laurie

Cast has fun with nonsensical plot

As rival attorneys in New York City, Robert Redford and Debra Winger aren't exactly Tracy and Hepburn (he's too wishy-washy and callow, she's too flaky), but they do get to loosen up a bit from prior roles, creating an amusing give-and-take relationship while defending performance artist Daryl Hannah (another flake) on murder charges. Plot is so haphazardly constructed that it was re-worked for the TV version and still nobody could figure it out. Redford and Winger get out of a bomb-laden warehouse just in the nick of time, but how they do it will have smart viewers crying foul. There are other problems, not to mention a strange, off-putting show put on by Hannah where she appears to go up in flames, but the charisma of the players is just enough to carry this heavy vehicle to a happy conclusion. The outtakes at the finale are charming, as is Rod Stewart's song "Love Touch". **1/2 from ****

Romance And Justice

I really do love Legal Eagles, it's a film that hearkens back to the stuff that William Powell and Myrna Loy did at MGM. I can see a younger Tracy and Hepburn in this film as well. Robert Redford is the Jack McCoy of the New York County District Attorney's office and wouldn't you know it, Steven Hill plays the New York County DA here. Hill's thinking of hanging it up, but obviously as fans of Law and Order know, he eventually didn't. He's thinking of promoting Redford as his candidate to succeed him come the next election.But for budding politico Redford, his life gets real complicated when defense attorney Debra Winger and her client Darryl Hannah enter his life. Hannah is the daughter of a famed artist who was killed in a loft fire where she barely escaped from when she was about 6. Since then she's become something of a wild child.Hannah steals a picture from art dealer Terrence Stamp that she says is really hers. That starts a chain of events in which she's eventually accused of Stamp's murder. That same night Hannah decides she needs a little tender loving care and who better than the assistant district attorney to give it. The police bust her when she and Redford are in flagrato. After that Redford decides to see how the other half lives working with Debra Winger on Hannah's defense. What I liked about Legal Eagles is that it glided nicely from comedy to drama with little effort. The climax at Terrence Stamp's gallery was very well staged and Redford is being a most heroic lawyer. Also in the cast are Roscoe Lee Browne as the judge at Hannah's trial and Brian Dennehy as a most interesting investigator. It's one of Robert Redford's best films and it's got style and substance.With Redford, style is a given.

Legal Spiegal

This film isn't too bad for cheap Hollywood film making. It starts out decent enough but then goes way out of balance and loses its momentum to become anything other than an enjoyable film to catch late at night just to see how it is all put together. Redford is underused here but what we see of him is just enough to make us like him. He plays an assistant DA but we lose complete credibility when he sleeps with Hannah so suddenly. I don't know what Reitman was thinking but he must have not had any respect for a character who is supposedly an avid admirer of truth. But if he can get a piece of a__ then all the better I suppose. Winger is a young attorney who is cute to look at before her pre-Bertolluci fiasco soft porn role in "Sheltering Sky". Hannah is just plain dull and fetid, she sits around and has groping eyes as if saying, "what about me, and my daddy's art?" There's enough holes in the plot to drive Godzilla's underpants through but we must'nt let that bother us. So many of these films were made by credible stars in the 1980's that is has become cliche and a genre in itself. The plot concerns a shoddy business dealing and it is uncovered by the pair of attorneys. There's really not much action and suspense but again, catch this if you can one late night when nothing else is on TV.

Great movie.

I'm a 17 year old movie fan, and just to put my two cents in, I think this movie is awesome. It's not well known, but even so, I watch it every time it's on television. Thumbs up.

Fun!

I can't help loving this movie! It's a throwback to old-school romantic comedy, with a mystery thrown in, kind of like "The Thin Man". I guess the best thing about it is Debra Winger as Laura J. Kelly, a pixieish defense lawyer who enjoys a love-hate relationship with assistant D.A. Robert Redford. A lot of people don't like this movie, but I can't understand why. It's a sweet and funny tale with sympathetic characters and a pretty good mystery. What's wrong with that?

Pitiful

I saw LEGAL EAGLES when it first came out. I saw it on the first Saturday of its original release. The theater was jam-packed and the crowd was excited. You could actually feel the crowd's buzzing with anticipation for this movie. The stars mainly sold the movie but also the film was made by the same team that made GHOSTBUSTERS. The hype was quite big back then. When the end credits rolled, the crowd was quiet and the buzz was gone. The buzz died halfway into the film as every lame attempt at comedy or romance fell flat with a big thud and everything seemed forced and juvenile. I cannot relate how disappointed the crowd, my friends and I were about it. Some scenes are truly cringe-worthy bad. The flimsy script is as paper thin as the paper is was written on and the entire big budget comedy hangs heavily on the poor thing, incapable of overcoming its many inherent weaknesses.The actors try to do their best with what they have, with Redford being the sole actor with any charm in this charmless bloated thing. But the worst aspect of this "movie by committee" is Debra Winger's performance. It's so bad that her career never really recovered after it. She was supposed to be this Katherine Hepburn type who fell for Redford's debonair and free-thinking ways and she came across as someone who was perpetually constipated. Redford and Winger have zero chemistry, which doesn't help much for romance comedy. Nothing worked in LEGAL EAGLES, including the ending, which from what I read, is one of several endings the producers filmed and the awful one we saw was decided thanks to the bad taste of test audiences.There's a reason why this big profile movie only has 3 pages of reviews here at IMDb.

Comedy???

My feeling is that "Legal Eagles" works better if thought of as a murder mystery rather than as a comedy. The movie begins with a birthday party that ends in a fire, killing a little girl's artist/father. Hardly a laughing matter. There is a secondary story line that plays off of the budding relationship between rival lawyers played by Redford and Winger, and it involves some mildly funny moments, but the main focus is always on missing paintings and, as things develop, murder victims. The laughs are chuckles, not belly laughs. "Beverly Hills Cop" this isn't. The romance is tepid, too, but the acting is good and the mystery is involved enough to keep you interested. As a light murder mystery, this film works reasonably well. It's not memorable, but it's OK.

TV Movie like but w/ top stars

TV movie style mystery/comedy/drama with great lead actors who do the best they can with the average script/screenplay given to them.Holywood style and not made to be taken seriously,the main attraction of this movie is merely to see ones favorite stars srutt their stuff here.One of Redford'sfew experiments with the mainstream market.The directing is below average and the over all production is average.Like the lead stars a whole lot?Then this one is worth a look......

Romantic Charmer With Hi-Jinx!!!

I have always liked this film and I was so glad when it was finally released on DVD--especially the newer version w/a few extras (blue background on the cover). Redford & Winger are a charming, combative romantic duo with real spark & heart. Some of the antics are a bit overplayed--especially in relation to Darryl Hannah's femme fatale character, Chelsea. But, it's a winning film nonetheless, thanks to Redford & Winger and the smash soundtrack "Love Touch".