I shall recite the facts of the case, forthwith. An idealistic first year law student from the Midwest, named Hart (Timothy Bottoms),along with several other students find themselves unprepared for the academic rigors of Harvard Law School. Their insecurities bump up against the high standards of the renowned and intimidating Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman) who teaches a class in contract law. Further, Hart happens to become romantically involved with a woman named Susan (Lindsay Wagner) who initially fails to tell Hart that she is Kingsfield's daughter. Complications ensue.

"The Paper Chase" is a rather slow moving drama laced with occasional humor. The dispassionate story is simple and straightforward, if perhaps slightly contrived. It lacks emotional intensity, especially by today's standards. But that's somewhat to be expected for a setting that is so cloistered and cerebral. Characters are stereotypical, but still interesting.

And the "heart" of the story is the discourse between student and professor, especially as Hart relates, or fails to relate, to the demanding Kingsfield, a man who never smiles. Kingsfield has a one-track mind. He lives, breathes, and sleeps contract law. He expects his students to do the same. Always impersonal, he's like an intellectual robot. And half the fun of the film is listening to John Houseman's monologues, as he "fills the room with (Kingsfield's) intelligence".

The film's color cinematography is fine; camera "takes" are very long. The film's visuals do look dated. Guys have long hair. And students use ... typewriters -- yikes! Background music is intermittent and mostly classical. Overall acting is fine. Both Timothy Bottoms and Lindsay Wagner give credible performances. And, of course, John Houseman is terrific. I can't imagine anyone else in that role.

Low-key, and nostalgic in its view of education, "The Paper Chase" is a good film to watch for its high technical quality, for its theme of the individual trying to measure up to society's expectations, and of course for the wonderful performance of John Houseman.

I loved the TV series "The Paper Chase" and watched it on CBS as well as when it switched to Showtime back in the early 1980s. Yet, despite my love for the show, I didn't get around to seeing the original movie until now. The reason for seeing it now? Well, my wife bought me the first two seasons and it seemed like a good idea to finally see the movie and do it before I watched the other DVDs.

It's pretty interesting that although the movie is VERY different from the show, they both are very good--but in different ways. While the TV series was a good family show, the movie was a bit more adult in tone as well as more cerebral and slower paced. This isn't a bad thing really--just different. Plus the supporting cast if VERY different. Here are a few differences: Ford is present in both and is similar--except that he really needed a haircut in the movie. While his hairstyle was the rage in 1973, for an Ivy League brat, this didn't look right and the TV character looked more the part.

Bell is an evil sociopath in the film--a truly nasty individual with definite signs of Asperger's Syndrome. In the TV series, he's a dumpy loser who somehow manages to make it into law school! There is no female law student in the movie. Instead of the red-headed platonic friend in the movie there's a hot female sex/love interest played by Lindsay Wagner who is NOT a student but the daughter of the scary Professor Kingsfield! This major plot element in the movie is totally non-existent in the TV series and the sexual tension was omitted to make it more family-friendly. This is THE biggest difference between the two.

Timothy Bottoms is a nice guy as Hart but he's also sexual and a man of the 1970s. The TV Hart simply never had sex or thought about sex and is a bit like the comic book character Archie--a nice, safe and hard-working young man. And this explains why later James Sevens (from the TV version) went on to play a priest in "The Father Dowling Mysteries"! I personally liked BOTH characters--one was a bit more realistic (Bottoms) but the other was more likable and sweet--and seeing him progress through the series was very satisfying.

So why did I give this movie an 8? Well, one of the biggest reasons is that it's written and acted so darn well. Despite being a somewhat forgotten film today, it was marvelous from start to finish with many wonderful performances. John Houseman was brilliant and received an Oscar for a great performance. But the movie was certainly not all Houseman--with a lovely ensemble cast. Another reason I liked it was that the film was so amazingly original. You can't find another movie like this one! And finally, I liked the gentle pacing and way it was directed--slow, subtle and very competent.

My advice is see them both--compared to a lot of the crap out there today, the film and show are shining beacons of quality.

It's the start of Harvard Law School for first year student James T. Hart (Timothy Bottoms) from Minnesota. Charles Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman) is the commanding contract law professor. Frank Ford invites him to join his study group and James picks contract law. James starts dating Susan Fields (Lindsay Wagner) but it's not until Kingsfield's cocktail party that he finds out she's actually Kingsfield's daughter recently separated from her husband.

It's a slow build. The style is pretty stale like old musty law books. However it captures a tension from James' fear in class. This college movie isn't about beer pong or wild parties. It is about the rigors of learning. Houseman is an amazing presence that overshadows the whole movie like a bogeyman in a horror movie. There are a couple of great new actors Edward Herrmann and Blair Brown as law students.