AFI’s 10 TOP 10 — CHALLENGE RANK: COURTROOM DRAMA

Hello and welcome to “AFI’s 10 Top 10 — Challenge Rank,” this will be an article series where we put to test the American Film Institute’s various list rankings through a critical and audience consensual assessment scale. We will be breaking down “AFI’s 10 Top 10” lists, right here. The “AFI’s 10 Top 10” originally broke down by genre what are the 10 best films in that specified genre. For this first article in the series, we are going to tackle “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Courtroom Drama” category. Here’s the list of films and how they ranked from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Courtroom Drama”:

1.) “To Kill a Mockingbird”

2.) “12 Angry Men”

3.) “Kramer Vs. Kramer”

4.) “The Verdict”

5.) “A Few Good Men”

6.) “Witness for the Prosecution”

7.) “Anatomy of a Murder”

8.) “In Cold Blood”

9.) “A Cry in the Dark”

10.) “Judgment at Nuremberg”

If you want to see the actual AFI page of the Top 10? The link is below: http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=9

Now, this is how AFI ranked the best films of the courtroom drama genre. But do critics and audiences agree with AFI’s consensus? Well, through a rather collective algorithm from various critical and audience aggregators, I came to forming an overall consensual ranking of the collective films from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Courtroom Drama”. I was a relatively surprised how things turned out here among the consensual rankings compared to AFI’s rankings but here’s how it laid out:

Consensual Placement: 10th

A CRY IN THE DARK (1988)

AFI’S RANKING: #9

LOGLINE: A mother whose child was killed in a Dingo attack in the Australian outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder.

DIRECTED BY: Fred Schepisi

STARS: Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Dale Reeves and David Hoflin

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “A Cry in the Dark” went down 1 spot from #9 to #10 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 9th

A FEW GOOD MEN (1992)

AFI’S RANKING: #5

LOGLINE: A military lawyer defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.

DIRECTED BY: Rob Reiner

STARS: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “A Few Good Men” dropped 4 spots from #5 to #9 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 8th

KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979)

AFI’S RANKING: #3

LOGLINE: A wife leaves her husband, allowing for a lost bond to be rediscovered between a father and his son. But a heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple’s son, deepening the wounds left by the separation.

DIRECTED BY: Robert Benton

STARS: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry and Jane Alexander

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Kramer Vs. Kramer” plunged a whopping 5 spots, going from #3 to #8 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest drop among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 7th

IN COLD BLOOD (1967)

AFI’S RANKING: #8

LOGLINE: After a botched robbery results in a brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

DIRECTED BY: Richard Brooks

STARS: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe and Paul Stewart

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “In Cold Blood” climbed 1 spot from #8 to #7 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 6th

THE VERDICT (1982)

AFI’S RANKING: #4

LOGLINE: A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.

DIRECTED BY: Sidney Lumet

STARS: Paul Newman, James Mason, Jack Warden and Charlotte Rampling

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “The Verdict” dipped 2 spots from #4 to #6 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 5th

JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961)

AFI’S RANKING: #10

LOGLINE: In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes.

DIRECTED BY: Stanley Kramer

STARS: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark and Maximilian Schell

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Judgment at Nuremberg” ascended 5 spots from #10 to #5 with the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest climb among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 4th

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)

AFI’S RANKING: #1

LOGLINE: A lawyer in the Depression-era South; defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice.

DIRECTED BY: Robert Mulligan

STARS: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford and John Megna

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” dropped 3 spots from #1 to #4 on the list among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 3rd

ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)

AFI’S RANKING: #7

LOGLINE: In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?

DIRECTED BY: Otto Preminger

STARS: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara and Arthur O’Connell

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Anatomy of a Murder” rose 4 spots and went from #7 to #3 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 2nd

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)

AFI’S RANKING: #6

LOGLINE: A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.

DIRECTED BY: Billy Wilder

STARS: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Witness of the Prosecution” also scaled 4 spots from #6 to #2 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 1st

12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

AFI’S RANKING: #2

LOGLINE: A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence.

DIRECTED BY: Sidney Lumet

STARS: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam and Jack Warden

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “12 Angry Men” went from #2 to #1 in claiming the top spot on the consensual critics and audiences assessment rankings over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

In concluding, you can see the critical consensual assessment with critics and audiences ranked rather differently overall with every film placing in a different spot from AFI’s ranking list. So, how would you personally rank these top-tier courtroom drama films?

Article Note: All loglines are sourced from IMDb.com.

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