whoopdido

I love investigation/trial movies. Movies like A Few Good Men, JFK, Shutter Island, Rules of Engagement, Zodiac, Memento, Insomnia, most of Zero Dark Thirty would fall into this category as well. I know I'm missing a ton, but I just love movies where people are investigating something. I don't need a lot of action or anything...I like the process of people figuring out a problem or a mystery--interviewing people, searching for clues, etc. Even though the films aren't great, I like the mystery parts of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code as well.

I guess I'm kind of describing "film noir" but I was looking for some more modern examples too.

Any suggestions for me?

bluetoast

Probably something like 12 Angry Men. I still haven't seen it, but did see some of my friends perform it in high school.

Recent examples:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Michael Clayton

Possibly The Ides of March. It isn't a strict investigation, but has that political intrigue stuff going on.

whoopdido

I haven't see the remake of 12 Angry Men, but I just recently I watched the original for the first time. It's OUTSTANDING.

bluetoast

Man I should pick up the Criterion one of these days. Also you should check out the episode "Operation Ann" of Parks and Rec, funny stuff with clues in that one. In fact I'm going to watch that again now.

Why So Blu?

Exorcism of Emily Rose. Great little horror flick that also acts as courtroom procedural.

MrSmearkase

The Verdict

Rockmjd23

Anatomy of a Murder is probably THE courtroom drama film, and pretty graphic for 1959...though the "haha the judge said 'panties'!" scene is laughable.

PopcornTreeCt

Goodnight and Good Luck is pretty damn good.

DJariya

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313542/

Uhhh, Runaway Jury (2003). Has got a fantastic cast:

John Cusack
Dustin Hoffman
Gene Hackman
Rachel Weisz
Bruce Davison
Jeremy Piven


Class Action (1990): Also with a solid cast

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101590/

Gene Hackman
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Laurence Fishburne

theladyalbert

The Lincoln Lawyer
Frequency
The Client
Conspiracy Theory
The Pelican Brief
State of Play
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Time to Kill

You might like Brick. I find it a bit overrated though.

JCWBobC

True Believer-James Woods, Robert Downey jr.
From The Hip-Judd Nelson
Rainmaker-Matt Damon

Ash Ketchum

CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948) stars James Stewart as a newspaper reporter investigating an old murder case in which he gradually comes to believe that the man convicted of the crime was innocent and seeks to prove it to the courts and get the man released. Based on a true story and shot on location in Chicago.

NIGHT OF THE GENERALS (1967) - Omar Sharif plays a German officer in WWII investigating a series of murders of prostitutes in which the chief suspect is a Nazi general played by Peter O'Toole. Interesting reunion of the two stars of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Fascinating storyline, too, with a postwar coda that's pretty striking.

devilshalo

Se7en
Bone Collector
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Rules of Engagement
Contact
Man on Fire
Courage Under Fire

Roybq

Nuts (1987) with Richard Dreyfuss, Barbara Streisand and Leslie Nielsen
A high-class call girl kills a customer in self-defense. To avoid scandal, her parents try to have her declared mentally incompetent. Not helping matters is that she is very distrustful of everybody, including her court-appointed attorney, and is very disruptive during her court hearings.

Shannon Nutt

Here's one that may not occur to anyone: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

whoopdido

Thanks for the recommendations. I've seen some of them but haven't even heard of many of the movies listed. I'll make sure to check it out.

And Shannon Nut, I agree with you about Star Trek 6. Parts of that movie definitely fit with what I'm looking for.

Norm de Plume

gmanca

Here's some other ones:

Suspect
Jagged Edge
Black Widow
Body Heat
A Civil Action
Erin Brokovich
The Insider
The Chamber
The Life of David Gale
Fracture
Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans
Law Abiding Citizen
Fallen
8MM
Legal Eagles
The Star Chamber
The Gingerbread Man
The Mothman Prophecies
Blown Away?
Arlington Road
Hardcore
The Exorcist III

hasslein

Witness for the Prosecution

It isn't a mystery, but the courtroom scenes in Flash of Genius are awesome.

mickey65

Primal Fear

Jazzbutcher

Reversal of Fortune
Judgment at Nuremberg
Murder in the First
The Accused
Breaker Morant
The Paradine Case
Let Him Have It
Gideon's Trumpet

Jediturtle

How about Hitchcock's 1947 The Paradine Case? It's known as one of his weakest films, but even bad Hitchcock is pretty damn good. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Actually quite a few of his movies can be considered mystery/investigation films, but this is the only one off the top of my head that really focuses on the trial portion.

If you go more towards a "wrongly accused man on the run" type investigation...well then Hitchcock has that covered quite nicely with many great films. 39 Steps is one of my all time favorites, and of course North By Northwest is a can't miss.

dom56

Boomerang!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039208/?ref_=sr_2

davidh777

Not trials, but The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential have unfolding mysteries.

Shannon Nutt

Yep, this is a great one...first movie I ever watched Ed Norton in, and knew he was going to be a star.