''From the Hip'', is a 1987 American

courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work in the Canadian film industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible ...

from a screenplay by Clark and

David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Picket Fences'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''The Practice'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Publi ...

. The film stars

Judd Nelson Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in ''The Breakfast Club'', Alec Newbury in ''St. Elmo's Fire'', Joe Hunt in ''Billionaire Boys Club'', Nick Peretti in ''New Jack City ...

Elizabeth Perkins Elizabeth Ann Perkins (born November 18, 1960) is an American actress. Her film roles have included ''About Last Night'' (1986), '' Big'' (1988), ''Avalon'' (1990), and '' He Said, She Said'' (1991), ''The Flintstones'' (1994), ''Miracle on 34th ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

, and

Darren McGavin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

Plot

Fresh out of law school, Robin "Stormy" Weathers (

) cannot stand the tedium of case filing and research. Desperately wanting to "practice law" and go to trial, one morning he intentionally withholds the fact that a trial is scheduled to begin that very afternoon to compel his superiors to let him try the case because he is the only one familiar with the facts of the case. During his meeting with the client (the president of a bank who intentionally struck another banker), the banker declares the "simple assault case" to be a no-winner (explaining that he hits people all the time), but wants the one-day trial to somehow be stretched to three days to run up the other banker's court fees. Weathers prolongs the case by creating a 1st Amendment constitutional challenge as to the admissibility of the word "asshole". Escalating the case into a media frenzy, the senior partners of the law firm are embarrassed by Weathers' behavior and unconventional methods and try to fire him. The client retaliates on Weathers' behalf threatening to take the bank's business elsewhere. Weathers appears to be crafty and intuitive, but in reality, had conspired with the other attorney (a friend of his) to stage a brilliant legal engagement to make themselves look good. Weathers wins the trial and in doing so attracts a plethora of new clients to the firm which skyrockets him to be a junior partner. In an act of unfair retaliation, Weathers is assigned to be lead defense counsel in a first-degree murder case involving university professor Douglas Benoit (

) who is almost certainly guilty of bludgeoning a prostitute to death with the claw of a hammer. Benoit wanted Weathers because he saw him in the previous case. Weathers takes the case and his loud and odd courtroom behavior soon amazes the judge, the spectators and sometimes embarrasses his girlfriend Jo Ann (

). Determined to impress his employers by winning a verdict of not guilty, no matter what, his courtroom antics soon visibly gain even the jury's favor and raise the likelihood of acquittal. Weathers unsuccessfully tries to get Benoit to accept a plea-bargain to manslaughter charges and soon discovers that Benoit is guilty: in a thinly-veiled confession used to taunt his own defense attorney, Benoit vividly describes to him the "clarity of mind" it takes for a man to be able to split someone's skull open with the claw of a hammer... while the person remains alive. Weathers becomes conflicted between his sense of duty and ethics and his moral obligation to see Benoit pay for his crime. Despite the possibility of being disbarred, he decides to antagonize Benoit into a confession on the stand.

Cast

as Robin 'Stormy' Weathers *

as Jo Ann *

as Douglas Benoit *

as Craig Duncan *

Dan Monahan Dan Monahan (born July 20, 1955) is an American actor, best known for his role as Edward "Pee Wee" Morris in the 1980s ''Porky's'' trilogy of teen films. He appeared in '' Only When I Laugh'' and ''Porky's'' in 1981. Early and personal life Mo ...

as Larry *

David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on '' Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015� ...

as Steve Hadley *

Nancy Marchand Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. She began her career in theatre in 1951. She was most famous for her television portrayals of Margaret Pynchon on ''Lou Grant'' and Livia Soprano on ''The Sopranos''. ...

as Roberta Winnaker *

Allan Arbus Allan Franklin Arbus (February 15, 1918 – April 19, 2013) was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series ...

as Phil Ames * Edward Winter as Raymond Torkenson *

Richard Zobel Richard J. Zobel Jr. (June 5, 1952 – October 4, 2005) was an American actor. He starred as the attorney Aaron Levinsky in the original Broadway run of '' Nuts'' in 1980. Over the course of his career, he was also a singer, instrumentalist, ani ...

as Matt Cowens *

as 1st Judge *

Robert Irvin Elliott The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

as Scott Murray *

Beatrice Winde Beatrice Winde (born Beatrice Lucille Williams; January 5, 1924 – January 3, 2004) was an American actress. Her work as a character actor, and a singer, in theatrical, television, and film roles, spanned several decades. Life and career W ...

as 2nd Judge *

Art Hindle Arthur Hindle is a Canadian actor and director. Early life and education Hindle was born in Halifax. For 12 years, he alternated living with his divorced parents in addition to living in foster homes. He grew up in Bowmanville, and later at T ...

as Lt. Matt Sosha *

Priscilla Pointer Priscilla Marie Pointer (born May 18, 1924) is an American retired actress. She began her career in the theater in the late 1940's, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood and making appearances on television in the ...

as Mrs. Martha Williams

Reception

Box office

Released on February 6, 1987, the film grossed $9.5 million domestically.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film a score of 27% based on reviews from 22 critics. The site's consensus states: "From the Hip finds Judd Nelson flexing previously unseen acting muscles, but this legal comedy is too grating to pass the bar."

Awards

Judd Nelson was nominated for a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

as Worst Actor for his role in the film, where he lost to

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

for ''

Leonard Part 6 ''Leonard Part 6'' (also known as ''Leonard Part VI'') is a 1987 American spy parody film. It was directed by Paul Weiland and starred Bill Cosby, who also produced the film and wrote its story. The film also starred Gloria Foster as the vill ...

''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:From The Hip (Film) 1987 films 1987 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Paul Zaza Films shot in North Carolina Films directed by Bob Clark De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films 1980s American films