Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

One of the greatest problems for 1970s and 1980s America was rampant crime, which forces of law and order had been apparently unable to stop. This led many to see vigilantism as the only credible alternative, a sentiment heavily exploited by Hollywood films. One of the more unusual of such vigilante films was The Star Chamber, 1983 thriller directed by Peter Hyams.

Protagonist, played by Michael Douglas, is Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin, man whose idealism is increasingly colliding with harsh reality of crime-ridden Los Angeles. Many hardened criminals, including depraved psychopathic rapists and killers arrive to his courtroom only to be released because police or prosecutors made procedural errors. Hardin, like everyone, knows that those men are guilty, but he doesn’t have any choice other than upholding the law. He is increasingly frustrated by this after releasing two criminals (played by Don Kalfa and Joe Regalbuto) accused of torturing, raping and murdering young boy. At that point Judge Benjamin Caulfield (played by Hal Holbrook), his old friend and mentor, invites him to join informal group of judges who were as frustrated as him before deciding to pursue justice in their own way. They meet in secret, review the cases of criminals released on technicalities, pass judgements and the those found guilty are executed via hired assassin (played by Jack Kehoe). Hardin joins the group and takes part in the proceedings. Everything changes when he learns that the criminals pronounced guilty are actually innocent. His attempt to overturn the verdict by appealing his fellow judges fails, so he must take more direct action in order to prevent the fatal miscarriage of vigilante justice.

The Star Chamber is very good looking film, which isn’t surprising, because the Hyams is not only a good director, but also an accomplished cinematographer. His clever uses of shadows, together with musical score by Michael Small, creates dark, foreboding atmosphere. Hyams also directs couple of very energetic and effective action scenes. However, all of this is wasted on very poor script (co-written by Hyams and Roderick Taylor) which takes intriguing premise of frustrated judge turned vigilante only to ruin it with cliches and all too convenient and not particularly convincing plot developments. Michael Douglas’ character begins as idealist upholder of law, turns into pragmatic law breaker only to transform into action hero near the end. The ending, however, is even more disappointing when the protagonist is saved by deus ex machina in the form of seemingly all-knowing and all-powerful police detective (played by Yaphet Kotto). Script problems might be explained by its schisofrenic desire to pander to right-wing pro-vigilante sentiments of the audience while being loyal to liberal tenets of Hollywood at the same time. This explanation, however, doesn’t absolve Hyams from delivering stylish, but ultimately disappointing film.

RATING: 4/10 (++)