Trial and Error (1997)
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43% of critics liked it
(30 reviews) -
29% of users liked it
(2,944 ratings)
This comedy features TV's Seinfeld regular Michael Richards in his first starring role, opposite Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays Charlie Tuttle, an up-and-coming attorney engaged to Tiffany Whitfield (Alexandra Wentworth), the daughter of the law firm's boss (Lawrence Pressman). His boss sends… More This comedy features TV's Seinfeld regular Michael Richards in his first starring role, opposite Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays Charlie Tuttle, an up-and-coming attorney engaged to Tiffany Whitfield (Alexandra Wentworth), the daughter of the law firm's boss (Lawrence Pressman). His boss sends him to a small Nevada town to represent a down-and-out relative, Benny Gibbs (Rip Torn). Benny has been charged with fraud for bilking people in a mail-order scam. At a bachelor party that Charlie's future father-in-law arranges for him in the small town, Charlie gets plastered. A small-time actor, Richard Rietti (played by Richards), agrees to switch places with Charlie for a simple hearing that day. The judge and prosecutor think he's Tuttle. As the trial begins, Charlie tries to pose as his associate, but the judge won't allow that. Charlie is forced to send signals to Richard during the trial by honking on a car horn in the parking lot. In the meantime, Charlie finds a new kind of happiness with a free-spirited local waitress, Billie Tyler (Charlize Theron). ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jonathan Lynn
- Written By
- Sara Bernstein, Gregory Bernstein
- Genres
- Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- May 30, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- New Line Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Something is surely amiss when the trial antics are the least interesting aspect of a courtroom comedy,
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Greg Muskewitz, eFilmCritic.com
Lynn's attempt to replicate the courtroom zaniness of My Cousin Vinny is a humorless pie-in-the-face.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
A hilarious comedy with delicious comic bits on lawyers, juries and experts.
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Cast
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Michael Richards
as Richard Petti
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Jeff Daniels
as Charles Tuttle
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Charlize Theron
as Billie Tyler
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Alexandra Wentworth
as Tiffany Whitfield
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Jennifer Coolidge
as Jacqueline
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Rip Torn
as Benny Gibbs
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Jessica Steen
as Elizabeth Gardner
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Austin Pendleton
as Judge Paul Z. Graff
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Dale Dye
as Dr. German Stone
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Lawrence Pressman
as Whitfield
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Max Casella
as Dr. Brown
