Nearly all the reviews so far are raves. I'll take the other side. While Reeve and Helgenberger are in fine form here, and there are some engrossing scenes, the plot left me flat a few times, and the ending seemed like a quick patch-up job for the dramatic wounds opened by everything prior.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Why did the guard at her hospital room not follow her "to the sun room" where she said she was going? He stayed to guard an empty room instead of her. How would he think that made sense? Also, her friend is killed in a car accident but we don't see the friend in the accident or after it (even, say, a hand falling limply down to discreetly indicate death). Marg's character didn't seem to mourn the death very much at the time, either (unless I missed it). That felt strange, almost like the character was just being coldly deleted from the story. And then Jim Jarrett's character was so stereotypically sleazy that I kept waiting for his hidden agenda to be revealed, but I guess he didn't really have one. He was just sleazy. A lawyer like that would turn me off as a juror in nothing flat! Finally, there ends up being no real twist at the end, other than the apparitions switching their attention to George to give us the ending we want. The biggest surprise was Flanagan's medical history issues, but that development seemed basically just there to produce the trial outcome the script called for. It didn't change the main characters at all.
*** END SPOILERS ***
So, there's good work on display here, but I found myself thinking that it could have been a lot better with some more thought given to the plot and the characters. The premise and the acting talent deserved it.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Why did the guard at her hospital room not follow her "to the sun room" where she said she was going? He stayed to guard an empty room instead of her. How would he think that made sense? Also, her friend is killed in a car accident but we don't see the friend in the accident or after it (even, say, a hand falling limply down to discreetly indicate death). Marg's character didn't seem to mourn the death very much at the time, either (unless I missed it). That felt strange, almost like the character was just being coldly deleted from the story. And then Jim Jarrett's character was so stereotypically sleazy that I kept waiting for his hidden agenda to be revealed, but I guess he didn't really have one. He was just sleazy. A lawyer like that would turn me off as a juror in nothing flat! Finally, there ends up being no real twist at the end, other than the apparitions switching their attention to George to give us the ending we want. The biggest surprise was Flanagan's medical history issues, but that development seemed basically just there to produce the trial outcome the script called for. It didn't change the main characters at all.
*** END SPOILERS ***
So, there's good work on display here, but I found myself thinking that it could have been a lot better with some more thought given to the plot and the characters. The premise and the acting talent deserved it.