‘LEGAL EAGLES’: A 1980s COMEDY WITH HINTS OF A MYSTERY

Picking out a movie to watch on any given night that I know nothing about is kind of a risk. Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t. Our latest to fit this box is Legal Eagles.

Legal Eagles (1986) Film Review

With impressive wins and performances in the courtroom, Tom Logan (Robert Redford) is on the way to becoming the next New York district attorney. All this could change with attorney Laura Kelley (Debra Winger) asks him for assistance on a case she’s working.

The case has ties to a fire eighteen years ago. The fire took lives but has a survivor in the then eight year old daughter of a famed artist who died. Now these many years later and Chelsea (Daryl Hannah) is trying to reclaim some of her father’s work only to be arrested for theft. When the case turns into more and a question of ethics for (), things go from promising to complicated.

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Prior to this showing up as a new move choice on Netflix, I don’t think I’d ever heard of this. It’s a movie that lists itself as a comedy but given its legal themes, I assumed drama would be more its game. It is in fact quite funny with some more serious and mystery-lite threads as the film progresses.

Most surprising is the fun banter between Tom and Laura. It’s the unexpected element I didn’t realize would play into the story. It also allows for an ending that’s more than a little bit cute. Featuring a (mostly) good cast, this is actually one of the movies that is worth a watch. Going in blind doesn’t always work out for me but I am finding myself more drawn to doing this of late rather than knowing all there is to know first.

The script does a decent job of balancing the two genres. The comedy is mostly good and I enjoy the way the legal case unfolds too. Nothing is too drawn out as some in this genre tend to be and I appreciate this. There are some production elements that make me cringe here and there just because its produced in the 80s. However nothing is enough to take away what this ultimately is, which is a fun watch.

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You can rent or buy Legal Eagles digitally on Amazon Video; or at publication it’s streaming with Netflix

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Content: a man sleeps with a woman. She climbs into his bed, and they kiss before it cuts to the morning after with them lying in bed naked. Some conversation revolves around this and what it means. Someone asks what “sexual politics” means. There are two or three deaths. Someone fires a gun at someone and another man is hit by a car. We see a hiding under bed sheets with blood. The film is PG.

Photos: Universal Pictures