The -ist List: Five great trial movies

All the publicity surrounding the Lay/Skilling trial has reminded Houstonist how much we like a good courtroom drama — the on-screen kind, that is. We started thinking about our favorite trial-related movies and were disappointed to realize that all the really good ones were made a long time ago. We suppose Hollywood doesn't think today's audiences have the attention span to watch that kind of thing, so instead of smart, gripping trial stories, we get warmed-over tripe like Runaway Jury. But if you're in the mood for something good, check these out:

• 12 Angry Men — Maybe the best movie ever made about serving on a jury, 12 Angry Men looks at (as you might have guessed) 12 men picked to hear the case of a Puerto Rican teenager accused of murdering his father. The movie is a fascinating look at the trial-by-jury system, and somehow it manages to hold Houstonist's attention for an hour and a half using one set.

• Inherit the Wind — The movie is based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, with Spencer Tracy playing a character based on Clarence Darrow and Frederic March as the William Jennings Bryan-based lawyer. Though the names and places are changed, the movie retains the trial's timeline and uses many court transcripts for dialogue — and it shows just how challenging it can be to interpret the law.

• To Kill a Mockingbird — Horton Foote's screen adaptation of Harper Lee's novel follows Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape in 1930s Alabama. It's a great story by itself, made even more remarkable because it's told from the viewpoint of Finch's 6-year-old daughter. Gregory Peck won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal as Finch.

• The Verdict — Between the fine David Mamet script and Paul Newman's performance, The Verdict's a winner. Newman plays an alcoholic lawyer trying to redeem his career by winning a medical malpractice case, which becomes more complicated when he gets emotionally entangled with the victim's family.

• My Cousin Vinny — Speaking of Mamet, he called My Cousin Vinny "the best movie ever made" (decide for yourself if he was being serious). It's the story of two Northern college kids accused of murder in an Alabama town who ask Vinny, an uber-stereotypical New Yorker who recently became a lawyer, to defend them. There's always room for humor in the courtroom — not to mention exaggerated NY accents.