The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

This is, primarily, a courtroom drama -- and, on those terms, it's fine. However, the flashback scenes are so strong that whenever the action returned to the present it was rather a letdown.

Laura Linney's defense attorney was completely unbelievable. She did a fine job acting, but the role was ridiculous. This is a high-profile case...but she and her lone assistant seem to be the only ones doing any work on it. She also is being harrassed in her home: finding her apartment door ajar in the middle of the night, power cutting off, smelling smoke -- but she does nothing to put a stop to it. The implication is that she's "under attack" by demons. As a claimed "agnostic," I'd think she'd call the cops or the firefighters rather than to endure.

Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Emily Rose, is amazing. She really freaked me out. But that's only half of the movie -- and the trial half needed some serious script work.

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