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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contracting excellence, 27 Dec 2005
John Houseman was part of the entertainment world for decades, working with such heavyweights as Orsen Welles, but perhaps popularly he will be best remembered for his portrayal of Professor Kingsfield, a conservative, dour Contract Law professor at Harvard Law School, who, for all his professionalism and singleness of purpose, lets a bit of humanity creep out from beneath the surface. Houseman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.Timothy Bottoms played Hart, the idealistic young 1-L (first year law student) who comes to Harvard from the midwest primarily because of his fascination with Kingsfield. He forms friendships and relationship with a circle of friends, each of whom is eccentric, driven, and slightly certifiable (which fits most of the law students I've known). His problems increase as he meets and begins a relationship with Kingsfield's daughter (played by Lindsay Wagner). This movie provided the inspiration for a television series, which followed some of the same characters from the film, in necessarily a different time-frame and different situations. Houseman reprised his role in this, and became a 'star' by this vehicle. My favourite scene in the film has to be (being the bibiophile that I am) the time Hart breaks into the closed stacks in the library (which contain the personal papers of the professors) to look for Kingsfield's early work, including his original notes from when he was a student in Contracts. Hart's reflection on Kingsfield's philosophical musings ('Can one make a binding contract with God?' Kingsfield had written) almost convinced me to go to law school in America (and indeed, I took the LSAT and did well). Houseman found the role of Kingsfield a double-edged sword, that, while fueling his stardom and exposure, also obscured the real person behind the role. He became typecast. Even when he went on speaking tours (coming once to my university to speak before a standing-room-only crowd at the auditorium) his Kingsfield routine was what the audience wanted; they tended to drift away as he spoke about his own life, and that was sad. Make a contract with yourself to see this excellent film, and, should the series be repeated on cable, check that out too. You'll be glad you did, or your money back (contract void wherever prohibited).
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