Trial and Error (1997) Movie Review

Michael Richards can usually do no wrong, but Trial and Error misfires enough to be mostly forgettable, though occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. In this very loose remake of the 1962 Peter Sellers film, we find Richards and Jeff Daniels stuck in Nevada in a mixed-up court case where the actor (Richards) is forced to represent a man (Rip Torn) accused of fraud while the real lawyer (Daniels) sits on the sidelines. Things run smoothly until, oddly, Daniels is tossed out of court, where he spends the remainder of the film nuzzling Charlize Theron and breaking up with his wife-to-be. After about 40 solid minutes, we're left with two lame romances, as Daniels' straight man devolves into a ridiculous hippie loser.