The Paper Chase (1973)

88% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(4,148 ratings)

This filmization of John Jay Osborn Jr.'s novel Paper Chase ended up one of the surprise hits of the 1973-74 movie season. Timothy Bottoms stars as the Minnesotan Hart, a brilliant but naive first-year student at the Harvard Law School. Like most of his fellow aspiring attorneys, Hart is in fearful… More This filmization of John Jay Osborn Jr.'s novel Paper Chase ended up one of the surprise hits of the 1973-74 movie season. Timothy Bottoms stars as the Minnesotan Hart, a brilliant but naive first-year student at the Harvard Law School. Like most of his fellow aspiring attorneys, Hart is in fearful awe of his demanding, ego-deflating instructor, Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman). He is not so much intimidated by Kingsfield, however, as to resist falling in love with the professor's pretty daughter (Lindsay Wagner). An eminent theatrical and film producer, John Houseman won an Oscar for his first important film role (no, it wasn't his first film role ever; he'd played an unbilled cameo in 1964's Seven Days in May), launching Houseman on a latter-day acting career wherein he spent most of his time playing variations of Kingsfield. Houseman also recreated the role for a Paper Chase TV series, which first ran on CBS, then on public television, then on the Showtime pay cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 51 min.
Directed By: James Bridges
Written By: James Bridges
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1973 Wide
On DVD: Jun 3, 2003
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
The Paper Chase has some great performances, literate screenwriting, sensitive direction and handsome production.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
By the end it has melted into a blob of clichés.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Houseman is able to project subtleties of character even while appearing stiff and unrelenting; it's a performance of Academy Award quality, and resulted in an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
James Bridges manages to do a fair job with the semihokey material.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Essentially, this is a military school plot with a change of venue.
, Time Out
A muddled and slick 'youth' film.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Houseman owns you whenever he's on camera.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Solid (if dated) college-years drama.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Frightening drama of life in law school. Houseman is terrific.
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central
The Paper Chase is sort of charmless.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
John Houseman takes center stage with his near-perfect depiction of an imposing law school professor.
, Film4
It's intelligent, entertaining and ultimately uplifting, but never really gets to the heart of the class struggle (academic and social) that's taking place.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

A Harvard law student dates his imperious professor's daughter. I've thought about The Paper Chase a lot. One of my colleagues did his dissertation on educators in film, and his construct suggests that teachers are always portrayed as being exemplars of… More
A Harvard law student dates his imperious professor's daughter. I've thought about The Paper Chase a lot. One of my colleagues did his dissertation on educators in film, and his construct suggests that teachers are always portrayed as being exemplars of either "tough love" or "nurturing love." He contends that Kingsfield is an example of a "tough love" prof, but I argue that Kingsfield, in fact, defies his construct and is "no love." This is refreshing because I don't love my students; that means they won't make a movie about me. We argued about this for the past couple days, but it's the only interesting aspect of the film. There is a romantic story here, but the lead may be the shittiest female character ever written in film. I have no idea why she sleeps with Hart; their meeting scene is the definition of banal. I have no idea why she gets back together with him. I have no idea why she hides her identity from him; the scene in which she explains herself makes no sense. I have no idea why she does anything. She seems to pop up whenever Hart needs someone to whine to or whenever the filmmakers remember that they're paying an actress. I don't see her as a real character. Instead, she's a flat character, and you shouldn't make "Romantic Lead A" a flat character; maybe "Romantic Leads B" can be, but not A. There is also some truly banal connective tissue. There is one scene composed only of Hart getting unremarkable breakfast at an unremarkable cafeteria with an unremarkable look on his face, and this lasts for a remarkably long minute before he sits with another character and starts the story again. Overall, there is no doubt John Houseman gives a fantastic performance as the imperious Kingsfield and the characterization of the professor is good fodder for debate, but everything about the film's story construction and the banality of the characters makes this film a chore to watch.
Ken S

Great little film about being a first year law student at Harvard. Great Gordon Willis cinematography to boot!
Cassie H

A funny & very odd movie. This movie had a really odd ending.
Randy T

Better than I remembered it to be (perhaps that's because I was 11 years old the first time?). Dated only by its score and its sense of fashion, The Paper Chase is still identifiably relevant to anyone who has ever sat in a college classroom or crammed for a… More
Better than I remembered it to be (perhaps that's because I was 11 years old the first time?). Dated only by its score and its sense of fashion, The Paper Chase is still identifiably relevant to anyone who has ever sat in a college classroom or crammed for a final exam. Just watching it gave me test anxiety. :)
jay n

The story had an interesting aspect but execution was wanting. Unappealing characters and choppy, disjointed presentation keeps viewer at a distance.
Lanning :

Kingsfield: Mr. Hart, here is a dime. Call your mother. Tell her there is serious doubt about your becoming lawyer. Hart: You . . . are a son of a bitch, Kingsfield! Kingsfield: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said today. You may… More
Kingsfield: Mr. Hart, here is a dime. Call your mother. Tell her there is serious doubt about your becoming lawyer. Hart: You . . . are a son of a bitch, Kingsfield! Kingsfield: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said today. You may take your seat. I have been fascinated with this movie for many years. Everyone who aspires, even peripherally, to the study of the law, should watch this. No, I've never contemplated approaching the bar, much less passing it, so that's not the source of my fascination. No, it's John Houseman. The entire cast is fantastic, but Houseman dominates this brilliant group of actors like a 1000 pound gavel cutting dead the noise of a disorderly courtroom. It's not as if he hadn't paid his dues either. Among his many credits is assistant to Orson Welles on Citizen Kane. But he seemingly burst on the scene like an overnight sensation, despite his lifetime of service to the acting profession and to theater in general. An amazing man. Very few actors playing very few roles have so commanded the screen with such an awesome presence. It's interesting to see Bottoms in this and then as the alcoholic father in Elephant. Thirty years have passed, yet the talent remains solidly the same. And for those who want to see what gifted editing looks like, no movie ever made can surpass this one. Mr. Houseman, you are missed.
Sarah P

A funny and meaningful film.