Word: chases
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WHEN ALL IS said and done, very little is said and done in The Paper Chase. The dialogue is trite and the action sluggish; only those fascinated by the machinations of Harvard Law School might expect to enjoy the film...
...there's the catch. If you are fascinated by the Law School and expect The Paper Chase to be a documentary, you lose. As writer/director James Bridges admits, and Law School Dean Albert Sacks insists the film is only a superficial treatment of life in Langdell and Austin Halls...
...Paper Chase compare the film with The Graduate, Goodbye Columbus, Summer of '42, and The Last Picture Show. It's a pretentious, if typical, PR device. There are moments when the film seems as though it belongs in such fast company, but they are rare and due almost entirely to flashes of superb acting from Houseman and Bottoms. (Bottoms, says Bridges, is one of the few actors so expressive that you can film his thoughts...
Ultimately, The Paper Chase fails because it is poor entertainment and even worse reporting. A movie about Harvard Law School could have been good. With Bottoms and Houseman, it might have been great. Unfortunately, Bridges has produced instead an entirely forgetable film...
...EVERY so often there is a movie that people relate to in a special kind of way," say ads for The Paper Chase. But for Albert Sacks, Dean of the Law School, the special kind of way is negative...