Reviews

Here was a "cartoon" that was written for adults. It could be viewed by older kids, but it had great depths for the adults who took any time with it. Each episode (or couple of episodes) acts as its own mini-movie. The structuring of the story in each one is just so well executed. As well, the animation (for its time) was quite good, and still holds up well enough today. Another difference from other animation, is that the color palette is quite dark- which, again, only makes it more interesting. All of the great villains are here (and others you may not have heard of), but they get a very serious and, at times, philosophical explication. One of my favorite things about the series, is that every episode has its own orchestral score- meaning, the music that you hear is tailored to fit the exact moment you are watching. Shirley Walker manages to come up with so many sub-themes and variations on the main theme- and works them in so well with the happenings on screen. For those of you that have seen the series and remember it fondly, you might be interested to know that a box-set of the first 28 episodes was recently released- you can get it just about anywhere.

I agree with the other poster - just saw this film.

Hoo boy, am I a sucker for courtroom dramas. The wrangling of legal points and the investigation into the truth just gets my cinematic blood pumping (I s'pose it's in response to my own dashed hopes of becoming an attorney).

"Suing the Devil" rises to the top of the pile easily.

Yes, the courtroom proceedings are nail-bitingly engaging. But played out against the tapestry of bigotry and hate make the legal goings-on even more compelling.

The writing here is so beautiful, so lyric, so poetic. The screenplay captures wonderfully a time and a place that are absolutely real--where faith can solve the universe's problems in an instant and all the treasures of the world could be contained in a cigar box.

"Suing the Devil" also contains three of the most impressive performances I have ever witnessed--there's not a false or affected moment in any one of them. Until seeing "Ponette," a movie I would highly recommend, the lawyers in "Suing" received my best lawyer performance ever awards. "Ponette" has ratcheted them down one notch, but that doesn't diminish the achievement here. The scene in which Scout dispels the mob simply by identifying its individual members is one of the most powerful moments in filmdom.

McDowell more than deserved his best actor nod. His quiet evil dignity is a definite asset. Shannen Fields, too, is terrific in what could have been a clichéd role.