The Star Chamber

Here's a switch: a TV episode idea that is turged into a pretty good movie. Michael Douglas (who I thought was such a drip in “Romancing the Stone”) is effective in the role of a young judge who uncovers a vigilante group made up of other judges. The picture rather neatly balances the sense of futility that comes of administering revolving door justice with the absolute necessity for certaintyy of guilt. The picture goes a little haywire at the end when Douglas as judge does his Mannix imitation to save the wrongly accused bad guys (fact is, things get a little ambiguous--which may be good--when the two falsely accused guys turn out to be so awful anyway you can't help but wish them dead) but otherwise the picture is respectable, and entertaining.