Customer Reviews

Canterbury's Law: The Complete Series

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A legal drama with an edge, "CANTERBURY'S LAW" was a series that had so much potential but was cut too short with only six episodes in the DVD complete collection.

The drama which aired during the Spring of 2008 featured Emmy Award Winner Julianna Margulies ("ER") as the feisty defense attorney Elizabeth Canterbury. A woman who seeks justice for the people she defends even if it means breaking the law.

Running the law firm Canterbury & Associates, she is joined by her partner Russel Krauss (Ben Shenkman) and her two attorneys Chester Grant (Keith Robinson) and Molly McConnell (Trieste Kelly Dunn). They take on cases which seem impossible and a grand slam for the District Attorney but Elizabeth Canterbury has always outbest the Deputy Attorney General Zach Willliams (Terry Kinney).

But Elizabeth's personal life is anything but good. Her marriage to her husband Matt, a law professor has gone down the drain since their son was kidnapped. Three years ago, she took her toddler Sam to the playground and answered her phone for business and next thing you know, she lost sight of him and they don't know if he is dead or alive.

Despite being successful as a defense lawyer, her life has been spiraling down hill. She has become a drunk after hours, she has been having an affair with Frank Angstrom (James McCaffrey) and because her husband has held his pain of feeling that she is responsible for their son's kidnapping, he wants to move on with their lives and declare him dead. But Elizabeth believes her son to be alive. And thus, her marriage life is in shambles.

To make things worse, because she has broken the law in order to win a case, now she is being investigated by the District Attorney and Grand Jury for jury tampering.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"CANTERBURY'S LAW" is featured in 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. The video quality is similar to a lot of dramas that are on DVD which has a bit of grain.

As for the audio, the audio is English 5.1 (Dolby Digital) and the series is primarily a dialogue-driven drama series with the occasional rock music that is played during certain scenes. But the dialogue is clear and I had no problems hearing the audio.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features on this DVD unless you count "previews" as one of them. Previews are for "Damages", "The Lazarus Project", "Rescue Me" and "The Shield".

JUDGMENT CALL:

"CANTERBURY'S LAW" is a legal drama that had a lot of potential and Julianna Margulies did a really good job as Elizabeth Canterbury, a defense lawyer who is strong, feisty and a woman that no one wants to mess with but to show that behind that tough demeanor, her personal life is just in shambles.

With this series coming from Denis Leary and Jim Serpico who are responsible for "Rescue Me", I expected the potential for something explosive for the first season. But it's really unfortunate that FOX canceled the series with only six episodes.

I definitely gave this series a try and I really felt that "CANTERBURY'S LAW" had so much potential and what urked me so much is that by watching these six episodes, there was an ongoing storyline about Elizabeth hoping that her kidnapped son is still alive. And to know that with no conclusion, we're left with an open ended series with no closure.

It's very unfortunate that the creator/director Dave Erickson was never given the opportunity to finalize the series. Even if there was one last episode to tie up loose ends, at least it would have been some sort of closure to the series and its characters. It's a shame to watch these characters taken to such highs but then taken to the lowest of low's and that glimmer of sunshine will never come.

I actually enjoyed Julianna Margulies performance and it was great to see her play this type of role. After watching each of the six episodes, I really got into the main characters (the partner and attorneys at Canterbury's law firm) and seeing this battle of wits between Canterbury and the Deputy Attorney General.

I enjoyed "CANTERBURY'S LAW" but with only six episodes, the series definitely had potential. Unfortunately, the network canceled it too quickly and thus, the series never had any true closure to the series storyline or its characters. And as entertaining the episodes were, you are left with wanting more but knowing that there is no more. What a shame!

I love Julianna Margulies acting style. Everything about her screams grace and depth when portraying her characters. I am loving 'The Good Wife' and in turn sought some other shows she had starred in to add to my collection.

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this gem of a series. I agree with others that the show had so much potential. The acting was brilliantly played out. The theme and recurring events patterning through the show kept you waiting and wanting for more.

It's obvious that the wrong network had the rights to air it. If this had been on primetime tv such as the likes of an awesome show, "The Good Wife" that Julianna now stars in, it would have soared in popularity and would have been given a real chance to succeed.

I'm into the fourth episode, wishing there was more than six. However, fortunately I can also watch Julianna shine in her latest endeavor.

I liked this show so much I also bought a set for Christmas. If you like Julianna Margulies, you will DEFINITELY enjoy this short lived show!

This show is definitely a case of "right show, wrong network". I was able to catch 2 episodes while it ran but then stopped seeing it in the listings so I assumed that it'd been a mid-season test show and would return in the fall but was sad to hear that it'd been canceled.

Julianna Margulies was great in the lead role and her delivery of the pulled together "with it" attorney by day vs a woman who is falling into an alcoholic stupor by night connected with me as a viewer. I could feel her pain as a mother who had looked away for a moment as her child is kidnapped, I could feel her hope that the child is alive & would return to her one day and wanted to see more of her story - would she completely fall apart or keep it half together or eventually move on?

I liked the ensemble cast and was especially happy to see Keith Robinson (since I developed a crush on him after seeing DREAMGIRLS).I wish this show had been picked up by the TNT network since they seem to have a commitment to tv shows with strong female leading characters and I think that they certainly would've given the show more than 6 episodes to succeed which leads me to my final comment about this dvd "set" - it is too expensive for just 6 episodes of a now canceled show. Initially I thought that viewers would be getting at least 13 epis but I can't recommend the purchase but would highly recommend renting it because it had the makings of a good series but just didn't get enough of a chance to cultivate an audience.

I loved the show, but didn't like that it was canceled and that there won't be any more! It is worth watching, however, as the acting is so entertaining.

What is wrong with these networks? This was quite a solid show, from what little I saw, and it should have been given more of a chance, a better time slot, something. With Denis Leary producing along with J. Margulies and with Jace Alexander directing, it was a quality show about a troubled attorney whose marriage is crumbling not only due to her work but also due to the abduction of her young son.

Give it a shot!

How disappointing that Canterbury's Law did not survive. This is one of the best legal shows I've seen and the entire cast was amazing - especially Julianna Marqulies!

Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) stars in this engaging legal series. She heads a criminal defense law firm that takes on interesting cases dealing with rape, murder, and mayhem. She has a staff of several loyal underlings, all lawyers, who work with her. Margulies, in this series, carries some heavy baggage. Her young son Sam was kidnapped while under her watch several years ago and she is laden with guilt. Her marriage (to Aiden Quinn) is falling apart despite attempts at marriage counseling. Margulies plays a tough, quick-speaking and hard-nosed attorney who defends her clients to the max. In her personal time, she has a fling with her investigator and drinks too much. Unfortunately, Fox cut the series after seven episodes and so it is not as developed as it could be. It shows a lot of promise and is a good series to rent from Netflix or Blockbuster. I don't really recommend buying it as it's not a series one would watch more than once.

Only 2 years before her role in Good Wife, Juliana nailed it in Canterbury's Law. The network should not have cut this one short- it has so much potential and the network needed a woman powered attorney.Her performance is amazing and you will not be disappointed. While you aren't left for closure it should not be held against the show itself- actors did a great job and the cases are touching and can/have happened in real life. If it is below $20 and you are interested in the law and courtroom- watch it. If you love Law and Order, Good Wife, Eli Stone, Ally McBeal and the like, you will love Canterbury's Law.

This was a great start to a series. Fox did not renew it and I do not know why. Margolis played the part to a T. Would love to see it continue, even though she is now in a CBS series that is also quite good. I found this by checking her list of TV parts on Netflix. Great way to find listings of work done by your favorite actors.

I agree that this was a great show! It is so disappointing that a story with fantastic acting, great writing and a suspenseful plot that kept you hooked was just cut off by Fox after six episodes with nothing to resolve the great storyline. Julianna Margulies is absolutely riveting in the lead role! But since she is now starring in another show I love, "The Good Wife", clearly this show is truly done.

I LOVE the suggestion of another reviewer that this series would be a great movie!!! Let's see it done! Please!