Trial and Error (1997)

Directed by Jonathan Lynn. Starring Michael Richards, Jeff Daniels, Charlize Theron, Jessica Steen, Austin Pendleton, Rip Torn, Ali Wentworth, Jennifer Coolidge, Lawrence Pressman. [PG-13]

Michael Richards’ only starring film role, released a year before the end of “Seinfeld”, sticks him into a high-concept legal comedy (not entirely unlike a prior film from director Lynn, My Cousin Vinny) where he plays a struggling actor who gets his lawyer best friend (Daniels) so drunk at his bachelor party that the poor guy is unable to appear in the court the following morning, so the actor “fills in” for him and gets stuck defending willfully corrupt Torn on trial for fraud. Only sporadically funny, but its inspired moments make it worth the effort—the absurd gall of Torn’s “copper engraving” scam; Coolidge’s “expert” declaring on the stand that since only a few atoms separate their chemical makeup, sugar and cocaine are practically the same thing; Richards’ impressive bit of physical comedy during an audition where he’s getting beat up by non-existent scene partners; etc. There’s a little Cosmo Kramer in Richards’ characterization, but he usually doesn’t try to show up the gags with unnecessary clumsiness or goofiness; Daniels mostly coasts as a straight man, but gets a few “big” moments to make up for his strangely muted reaction shots. Although the story beats and genre expectations follow a familiar formula, the structure is on the ungainly side, breaking up the predictability but strangling the flow; the misshapen final act spends far less time on the courtroom antics or pending verdict than a pair of romances that had developed along the way—the one between Daniels and Theron’s quirky waitress is kinda sweet, the one between Richards and opposing counsel Steen is forced and unnecessary. Produced by Lynn and Gary Ross.

63/100