MovieChat Forums > Criminal Justice (2008) Discussion > So it wasnt about the real-life 'crimina...

So it wasnt about the real-life 'criminal justice' system after all.

posted 16 years ago by padzok
7 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was hyped as commentary on, and perhaps even an indictment of, the way crime and punishment is handled in noughties Britain.

The Beeb was certainly happy to garner all the hype of police, prison service and lawyers lining up to say "it aint really like that".

The first four episodes did seem to tread a path of realism. Obviously, the police were gonna suspect him and charge him. Obviously, his lawyers were gonna be convinced of his guilt, but do their best to get an acquittal or a plea bargain. And obviously there is some degree of corruption in prison (although I think there was some exageration), and obviously new prisoners get bullied.

But they didnt have the courage to see the realism through to the end. We could have been left with an innocent man doing life. Or we could have found out that he was the murderer after all. Either of which would have done the job of showing what the criminal justice system is "really" like.

Instead, we got a 5th episode full of far-fetched melodrama. Characters suddenly started acting contrary to type for no specific reason.

Barristers dont (and probably can't) carry on working on cases once the terms of their brief are fulfilled. They certainly don't suddenly become detectives and crack unsolved murders.

I can just about buy Hooch being willing to sacrifice himself. I can even buy the idea of him forcing the info out of Freddy Graham. But there's no explanation of how he then escaped Graham long enough to write the note.

And it was just a bit too damn convenient that: clear evidence of Ben's innocence just happened to exist; the guilty police officer didnt erase the CCTV; no-one else recognised the female murder victim running from the scene of the dealer's murder; the man with the key to linking the 2 murders just happened to be in the same prison as Ben.

The first 4 episodes were heavywight TV. By opting for a happy ending (well the happiest that could be expected in the circs), I think the writers lost an opportunity to make this a truly brilliant series, as opposed to a fairly good one.

[–] clare_f 16 years ago

I agree entirely.

The ending left me feeling empty after what had promised to be a fulfilling drama. However, there were still subtleties to the ending such as although we see ben smiling as he watches the football game the smile slowly evapourates without us noticing until we see that the look in his eyes is not the hopeful gaze of seconds ago. He also leaves the football pitch full of his peers playing to walk through an empty pitch.

BUT - i still think it was the wrong ending - i almost wanted to find out that ben was guilty as i think that would've made a far greater statement - i even felt the drama was leaning that way as the mother mentioned the kitten incident and hooch talks about how most prisoners were mentally ill.

However, i'm not going to let a slightly weaker ending ruin what had been a great exploration of the justice system - i still feel as though i've learnt a lot. It's still better than the vast majority of shows consumed by the masses

[–] woteva_16 16 years ago

At one point I thought the show would end after Ben's sentenced for life and we'd never find who really did it. Although the show could have stopped there I don't think the ending spoiled the rest of the show which was high class.
It's really worrying to think this is how the system works.

[–] laurenisalltherage 16 years ago

we see ben smiling as he watches the football game the smile slowly evapourates without us noticing until we see that the look in his eyes is not the hopeful gaze of seconds ago. He also leaves the football pitch full of his peers playing to walk through an empty pitch.

That was my favourite part of the entire 5 episodes. *SO* subtle and really heartbreaking. Like he was losing his spark. And when it was flashing back to when he was in his bedroom listening to Town Called Malice and kinda punching the air and being really giddy :-(

[–] silent_protester 16 years ago

Yeah that was really great, and sad, it kind of shows you the effect it all had on him, the aftermath, but without spelling it out...

[–] padzok 16 years ago

we see ben smiling as he watches the football game the smile slowly evapourates without us noticing until we see that the look in his eyes is not the hopeful gaze of seconds ago. He also leaves the football pitch full of his peers playing to walk through an empty pitch.

That was my favourite part of the entire 5 episodes. *SO* subtle and really heartbreaking. Like he was losing his spark.

I must admit I didnt really like that shot. It seemed to drag on forever. It was as if the director was saying "Oh look at me. I've come up with this ingenious idea to show that he's still in a type of prison mentally. I've shot him through a cage, and I want to make sure everyone notices how clever I am."

But maybe I'd just got annoyed with how clunky the last episode was generally.

[–] mulene 16 years ago

Actually Barristers / laywers do do that kind of thing re "detectives" - how do you think the evidence came to light in the case of the Guildford four?

[–] padzok 16 years ago

...how do you think the evidence came to light in the case of the Guildford four?

You mean in real life, or in "In the Name of the Father"?

In the movie version, there was a scene which was very similar to the one in criminal justice. The lawyer went into the police vaults and tricked them into letting her see the "wrong" box, which contained vital clues.

In real life, it was nothing like that. An independent police investigation uncovered that evidence and disclosed it.

In any case, Gareth Peirce is a solicitor, not a barrister.

And she wasnt someone who was involved in the original trial and who carried on investigating off her own bat. She only became involved much later to run the appeal.