Adjourn to Obsessed With Film, where I've reviewed the second season premiere of ace legal drama THE GOOD WIFE, brought to you by a well-known brand of tablet computer:
I don't easily warm to legal dramas because, to me, they conjure images of berobed barristers in dusty wigs speaking jargon, and I can't shake the feeling that catching criminals is more exciting than trying them in court. It's easier to stomach a legal drama in film, knowing you have a finite commitment to the process, but the prospect of watching the events of a courtroom every week has never appealed. The glossier American legal dramas (sans wigs and stuffy grandiloquence) often have this bookish vibe undercut in creative ways. Ally McBeal daydreamed of dancing babies, Damages hardly steps foot inside an actual courtroom, and Eli Stone was distracted by divine visions. Which is why The Good Wife came us such an unexpected surprise last year, for striking the perfect balance between episodic legal intrigues and serialized family drama, with no need for gimmicks or distractions. Continue reading...
