This is Part Two of Ten Great Legal movies. To see Part One, movie selections one-six , click here. These two columns were inspired by the American Film Institute's listing of their Top Ten Courtroom Dramas. That list can also be seen in Part One.

My ten selections have no particular order of "greatness" or "mediocrity," just a review of some great legal movies that you won't want to miss. As runner-ups and 'don't bothers' I'll mention a few at the end.

As the AFI television special noted about the appeal of courtroom movies ... "What's right. What's wrong. The journey to the final verdict is always deliciously suspenseful." But this genre can go far beyond suspense and enter into every emotion known to the human heart...sorrow, joy, despair, hope, tenderness, cruelty, and yes, even all-out laughter.

So although the AFI did not have a Top Ten Courtroom Comedies category...that's just how this list starts...

4. My Cousin Vinny.

(1992) Has there ever been a funnier murder trial movie? (Actually, two more legal comedies will be discussed later) Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei, plus "the karate kid" Ralph Macchio and a great cast everywhere you look, take a very cliche premise...Brooklyn guy in deep south geography/culture...and make it not only hilarious...but throw in a few good lessons about the value of those big thick law books, the viability of evidence, the arrogance of 'experts,' and the biases of both street-wise New Yorkers and small-town southern hicks. Oh...and women's issues as well get their moment here...Tomei's character, Lisa, .... her biological clock is doing some major tick-tocking! She earned her Academy Award for her delivery in this role here with every moment on film. To take the stereotypical role of wise-cracking, pool-hustling, leather-wearing, female Brooklyn Italian 'goomba' and make her into the character audiences see, that's ACTING. (and directing, and screenplay writing). And, although not an element of Tomei's character... I haven't been able to say the word "identical" with normal voice inflection since the first time I saw this movie. Trivia: Fred Gwynne, the judge...my entire childhood he was Herman Munster on television.

3. Philadelphia.

(1993) How did this one NOT get on AFI's list?!?! Tom Hanks wins Academy Award for best actor for his heart-wrenching, dignified portrayal of an attorney with AIDS. Denzel Washington as his co-star, also an attorney, is exceptional as a man who must re-think, re-formulate, re-assess every bias and 'narrowness' in his soul. This movie's plot targets the very heart of why we love courtroom movies...a search for truth, a yearning for justice, to see the underdog win, and the arrogant Goliath humbled. Oh..and in case you missed it...all this occurs in the city of Brotherly Love! Trivia: Antonio Banderas here as Hank's partner.

Catch Philadelphia on BRAVO channel on Fri., Dec. 11, 2009, at 5:30PM.

2. Chicago. 2002. Okay..the legal song and dance movie! Academy Award win for Catherine Zeta Jones...loosely based on a true story. This movie grabs you from the first seconds of film with an incredible wave of energy created out of music and photography and editing...an energy that rarely drops during the entire film. Amazing. Incredible cast, incredible filming, set design and editing as audiences travel back and forth between reality and imaginings of such characters as a prison matron (Queen Latifah), actress wanna-be (Rene Zellweger), slick and devious attorney (Richard Gere), hapless husband (John C. Reilly), and assorted prisoners, and journalists. Trivia: Out of all the actors and actresses, who would have thought that Christine Baranski would be seen twice on my selections of legal movies, but she plays a newspaper reporter in this one.

Chicago will be on AMC channel Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, at 7AM

Okay, Okay. I couldn't do it...of all the Legal Movies that I have in my brain...I can't narrow it down to just one more...so here are some that would be in Part Three...if there was a Part Three. Miracle on 34th Street...just for the novelty of a Christmas Legal Movie -- and it won 3 Oscars. Adam's Rib...for the miracle of all films that had both Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn ... Liar Liar for the combined elements of hilarity and fatherly warmth that Jim Carey portrays. Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin in All of Me...the physical comedy of the few moments where Steve Martin has to get from a curb to the door of an office building is worth owning this movie! Tobey Maguire in Pleasantville...taking on the fifties and racial, gender issues ...oh, and who plays Tobey Maguire's sister? Reese Witherspoon...the perfect segue into the "cutest" murder trial movie, Legally Blonde. And for sexiest legal movie...Body Heat...Kathleen Turner is amazing as femme fatale...Kim Cattrall from SatC could take sexy lessons from this movie. (Body Heat Trivia: Look for Ted Danson of "Cheers" fame) The Firm...pretty lame actually, and that's also my rating on Coen Brother's Intolerable Cruelty, despite the eye-candy factor of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones. Runaway Jury...great cast...Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, John Cusak, but so much weaker than the Grisham novel. Michael Douglas in Star Chamber. John Travolta, directed by Coppola, in true story environmental issues plot of Civil Action. Harrison Ford as accused prosecutor in Presumed Innocent. Strong civil rights legal movie...The Ghosts Of Mississippi, a Rob Reiner film based on actual case with Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg. Best legal movie in Heaven ... Defending Your Life with Meryl Streep, Albert Brooks, Rip Torn.

Liar Liars airs Sat., Dec. 5, 2009, at 2PM on USA channel.

I know I've missed a bunch of good legal movies....so let's hear it...got a favorite from my list? Got a favorite I forgot?