put yourself in this position represent youre a 30 something judge with a wife and kid whose job be to send people to jail . but when small technicality get in the way of justice and you have to compromise your moral and let rapist and murderer on the loose just because the police may have perform a search without a warrant and or take garbage out of a truck before the lever be press and it be dump into the back with everyone else trash and thereby become trash and not the garbage of a certain individual . you would probably feel pretty depressed know that confessed criminal be be let loose because of a small error in their arrest procedure and right . well and that how michael douglas feel in the star chamber and a film about an underground society of judge who be able to convict felon base solely upon what they do and not on whether they be unjustly apprehend at the time of their arrest . after have to let two child murderer go free on a slight technicality and stephen hardin ( douglas ) decide to join an underground community of judge who take matter into their own hand when bad guy be let free by hire hitman to assassinate them . if you think this sound improbable and youre right . if you think it sound morally wrong and youre partially right . the movie know that audience would immediately interpret this a sick and or twist and so peter hyams the director use some of the old cliche in the book to make u empathize with stephen . first and we see him let a murderer go after the police who arrest him act wrongly in the arrest procedure . then we see the two child murderer let loose on a similar technicality . i would buy this if it seem real but the script be all one big contrivance . it doesn not feel real while it make the viewer feel manipulate . now and i like film that provide deep character that we learn to feel attach to . i think that why character driven film such a fargo and plane and train and automobile succeed . and i do not feel personally insult when a film try to make u empathize with it character by have them go through certain event . but this just feel fake and and i do not buy the trial scene for a minute . too quick and too stupid and too darn silly . would two similar case appear in front of a judge within a few day . this be the type of trial case that make the news and be a one in a million type ordeal you would see it advertise everywhere in big bold print yet the movie approach it a if it an everyday event in the life of a judge . stephen old mentor tell him that he have to do the same type of thing an uncountable number of time . really . name a few case . the entire notion of an underground band of judge who rule out their own personal judgment sound like a cross between a john grisham novel and one by stephen king . i believe that grisham could handle this with a bit of credibility but the film approach the matter a king approach material represent it doesn not make much sense to begin with and and really withers away in the second half . ( i love the run man novel up until the last hundred page . ) ala and the star chamber be direct with lack of feeling and emotion . if it have setup character we could care for in more believable situation and then perhaps i would have felt that stephen adventure with the underground community of redneck judge would actually mean something . but after all and what do one expect from a film directd by peter hyams . not much . i hope this idea get re do a few year from now . it an intriguing premise . too bad it have to be ruin by such a terrible director in such a terrible film . 2/5 star . john ulmer .