Tough as nails defense attorney Elizabeth Canterbury won’t
rest until she brings the entire judicial system to a crushing halt.
Okay, that’s not really true.
What is true is a tone of pure exaggeration, of arched eyebrows and melodrama, that
peals like church bells throughout Fox’s new courtroom foray, which stars Julianna
Margulies as a fast driving, hard-drinking member of the Bar Association.
Of course, she’s a workaholic. Of course she’s got a quiver
full of verbal slings and arrows. And of course she’ll cross the line to get
the information she needs. She’s just trying to win some cases, man.
Along for the ride is her plucky crew of associates, headed
by the adorable, if nebbish, Ben Shenkman as Russell Krauss—the only person
alive who can stand in the way of Canterbury’s sharp tongue and dubious legal
moves. Here’s the twist. (Are you ready for it?) Canterbury’s young son has
disappeared, and his case remains unsolved. Of course, it has caused Canterbury
and her husband—played by a doughy Aidan Quinn who looks as if he’s crawled out of a fresh grave—to
start sleeping in separate bedrooms. Perhaps the picture is getting clearer.
All she’s got is her work. Subtlety is not the game in this town.
Who’s that?: Congrats to Julianna Margulies, who’s pulled herself up from the darkness of post-“E.R.” career that’s included films like “Ghost Ship,” “Hitler: The Rise of Evil” and “Snakes On a Plane.” She brings a nice gravitas to Canterbury, but still has to deliver lines like “I just tell the truth and see who it stings.”
The “ooh”
factor: Hailed as a promising property back in 2007, producers Denis Leary and
Mike “I’m An Auteur” Figgis seemed like they had enough combined cred to pull
another lawyer show out from the shaggy hordes of spec scripts.
The
"eh" factor: One of the biggest problems with “Canterbury’s Law” is
that it has all the delicacy of ‘80s cop shows like “Hunter” or “Sledgehammer.”
All that’s missing is the talking gavel.
The “Olde
English” factor: Still, everyone loves a lawyer show. Gregory Chaucer, a man
who knew a thing or two about Canterbury tales, wrote that “A
yokel mind loves stories from of old, being the kind it can repeat and hold.”
Hard to tell whether courtroom-formula repetition will win over people’s brains
or fog over their eyes.
"Canterbury's Law" premieres Monday, March 10 at 8 p.m./7c on Fox.
