Movies like Absence of Malice

If you like "Absence of Malice" you are looking for thought provoking, suspense and talky movies about / with journalism, legal, writers, murder, politics, investigation and courtroom themes of Drama, Romance and Thriller genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Absence of Malice (1981)
 6.9
 16K
Absence of Malice (1981)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: A prosecutor leaks a false story that liquor warehouse owner Michael Gallagher is involved in the murder of a union head, and as newspaper reporter Megan Carter picks up the story and attempts to find the real truth, Gallagher's life begins to unravel.
Style: thought provoking, suspense, talky, serious, realistic, tense, clever, neo noir, entertaining, sincere ...
Plot: journalism, legal, writers, murder, politics, investigation, courtroom, court, lawyer, manipulation, media, newspaper reporter, rivalry, dishonesty, revenge, reporter, law, legal action, friendship, fbi, conspiracy, justice, fbi agent, morality, newspaper ...
Time: 80s, 20th century, year 1981, 70s
Place: usa, miami, florida

Movie in categories

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courtroom movies
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Most similar movies to Absence of Malice

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, suspense and interesting films with plots about justice, greed, runaway, dialogue, mentor, catastrophe and betrayal mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres. Some movies like Absence of Malice: A Few Good Men (1992), The Verdict (1982), Kill the Messenger (2014), Return to Paradise (1998), Mad City (1997). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
 7.7
 314K
A Few Good Men (1992)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story: When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.
Style: suspense, tense, intense, tricky, realistic ...
Audience: date night, girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, courtroom, lawyer, justice, army investigation, trial, military, suicide, u.s. navy, court martial, destiny, hotshot lawyer ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1992
Place: washington d.c., cuba, persia, caribbean, usa
Similarity:
100%
 7.7
 50K
The Verdict (1982)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story: Frank Galvin is a down-on-his luck lawyer, reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing. Former associate Mickey Morrissey reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit that he himself served to Galvin on a silver platter: all parties ...
Style: suspense, atmospheric, intense, serious, sincere ...
Plot: courtroom, courtroom drama, lawyer, redemption, character study, justice, alcoholic, legal action, court, legal, corruption, moral dilemma ...
Time: 20th century, year 1982, 80s
Place: boston, massachusetts, usa, new york, new york state
Similarity:
100%
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist ...
Style: political, clever, suspenseful, captivating, disturbing ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: journalism, reporter, journalist, conspiracy, u.s. government, investigative journalism, politics, drug smuggling, investigative reporter, media manipulation, media, cia ...
Time: 80s, year 2014, 70s, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: latin america, california, los angeles, nicaragua, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Return to Paradise (1998)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story: Lewis, Sheriff and Tony are three friends vacationing in Malaysia. Sheriff and Tony eventually leave to pursue careers in New York, but Lewis stays behind to work with orangutans. Two years later, Sheriff and Tony learn that, because of their past ...
Style: realistic, suspense, weeping, sad, contemplative ...
Plot: prison, women in prison, death sentence, redemption, friendship, moral dilemma, guilt, drug addiction, drug, courage, lawyer, death row ...
Time: year 1998, 20th century, 90s
Place: malaysia, southeast asia, new york, asia, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
 6.3
 22K
Mad City (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.
Style: intense, talky, realistic, suspenseful, tense ...
Plot: hostage, journalism, politics, media, journalist, kidnapper kidnapped relationship, investigation, society, injustice, workplace intrigue, reporter, manipulation ...
Time: 90s
Similarity:
100%
 7.3
 113K
Witness (1985)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: A sheltered Amish child is the sole witness of a brutal murder in a restroom at a Philadelphia train station, and he must be protected. The assignment falls to a taciturn detective who goes undercover in a Pennsylvania Dutch community. On the farm, ...
Style: sexy, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, intense ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: witnessing a crime, police, amish, police corruption, forbidden love, female nudity, police detective, twists and turns, witness, childhood, corruption, train ...
Time: 80s, 20th century, year 1984, year 1985
Place: philadelphia, pennsylvania, usa
Similarity:
67%
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: When reporter Rachel Armstrong writes a story that reveals the identity of a covert CIA operative, the government demands that Rachel reveal her source. She defies the special prosecutor and is thrown in jail. Meanwhile, her attorney, Albert ...
Style: psychological, political, suspenseful, twisted, emotional ...
Plot: journalism, cia, courtroom drama, reporter, lawyer, media, courtroom, corruption, espionage, murder, conspiracy, assassination attempt ...
Time: year 2008, 20th century, 21st century
Place: usa, washington d.c., persia
Similarity:
33%
The China Syndrome (1979)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: A modern nightmare nearly becomes reality in this tension-filled story about an "incident" at a nuclear power plant. Jane Fonda stars as Kimberly Wells, an ambitious TV reporter covering a story on energy sources, who is present at the ...
Style: suspense, tension, suspenseful, political, tense ...
Plot: reporter, conspiracy, investigation, power plant, radiation, politics, journalism, nuclear power, whistleblower, disaster, murder, corruption ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1979
Place: california, usa, los angeles, southern california, pennsylvania
Similarity:
30%
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 6.6
 32K
Torn Curtain (1966)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story: During the Cold War, an American scientist appears to defect to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the formula for a resin solution, but the plan goes awry when his fiancee, unaware of his motivation, follows him across the ...
Style: suspense, enigmatic, tense, suspenseful, stylized ...
Plot: cold war, espionage, spy, secret agent, stasi, iron curtain, politics, murder mystery, nobility, cold war era, secrets, police investigation ...
Time: 20th century, year 1966, 60s
Place: east germany, berlin germany, germany, europe, east berlin ...
Similarity:
30%
...And Justice for All (1979)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story: An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is asked to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial. But if he doesn't do it, the judge will have him disbarred.
Style: suspense, realistic, disturbing, cynical, clever ...
Plot: courtroom, courtroom drama, lawyer, fighting the system, legal, rape, corruption, court, law, justice, trial, hotshot lawyer ...
Time: 20th century, 70s
Place: usa, maryland, baltimore
Similarity:
29%
 6.4
 9K
Class Action (1991)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Liberal activist lawyer Jedediah alienated daughter Maggie years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie agrees to go up against her father in court. To gain promotion, she must defend an auto ...
Style: suspense, serious, thought provoking, touching, realistic ...
Audience: girls' night, chick flick
Plot: courtroom drama, lawyer, courtroom, legal, court, father daughter relationship, father daughter conflict, parents and children, uncover truth, hopes, family relations, righting the wronged ...
Time: 20th century, year 1991, 90s
Place: san francisco
Similarity:
29%
 6.9
 160K
The Firm (1993)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min.
Story: Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the ...
Style: suspense, clever, psychological, serious, realistic ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: lawyer, corruption, murder, law firm, conspiracy, fbi, surveillance, murder mystery, blackmail, chase, legal, seduction ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: boston, memphis, harvard university, usa, tennessee ...
Similarity:
29%
Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: The McMartin family's lives are turned upside down when they are accused of serious child molestation. The family run a school for infants. An unqualified child cruelty "expert" videotapes the children describing outrageous stories of ...
Style: political, depressing, serious, realistic, talky ...
Audience: preschool
Plot: courtroom drama, lawyer, courtroom, pedophilia, law, trial, criminal justice, journalism, politics, gender, pedophile, sex crime ...
Time: 80s
Place: tahiti, los angeles, california
Similarity:
28%
 6.5
 18K
Jagged Edge (1985)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she ...
Style: neo noir, tense, suspense, psychological, serious ...
Audience: date night, girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, courtroom, lawyer, twists and turns, legal, court, murder, surveillance, danger, women, murder mystery, trial ...
Time: 20th century, 80s
Place: usa, san francisco
Similarity:
28%
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
Style: clever, captivating, serious, sexy, suspenseful ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: courtroom, lawyer, court, courtroom drama, legal, murder, twists and turns, trial, legal investigation, mind game, hotshot lawyer, arrest ...
Time: 2010s, year 2011, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, peru, san francisco, las vegas ...
Similarity:
28%
 5.7
 5K
Last Dance (1996)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Upon taking a new job, young lawyer Rick Hayes is assigned to the clemency case of Cindy Liggett, a woman convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. As Hayes investigates the background for her case, the two begin to form a deep ...
Style: emotional, talky, intense, tense, serious ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: death penalty, prison, death row, lethal injection, lawyer, dedicated lawyer, death sentence, justice, love story, courtroom drama, prison life, life is a bitch ...
Time: 90s
Place: india, taj mahal, california, australia, texas ...
Similarity:
28%
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story: A Japanese-American fisherman may have killed his neighbor Carl at sea. In the 1950s, race figures in the trial. So does reporter Ishmael.
Style: sentimental, meditative, breathtaking, captivating, serious ...
Plot: courtroom drama, murder mystery, forbidden love, murder, racism, culture clash, betrayal, prejudice, justice, fisherman, jury, lawyer ...
Time: 1940s, 50s, 1930s, year 1999, 20th century ...
Place: washington state, japan, asia, seattle, fictional island ...
Similarity:
28%
 6.4
 9K
F.I.S.T. (1978)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story: Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth ...
Style: disturbing, realistic, rough, serious, cult classic ...
Plot: labor union, gangster, working class, death of protagonist, organized crime, rise and fall, arson, intimidation, anti hero, police brutality, crime boss, tragedy ...
Time: 1930s, 1950s, 20th century, year 1960, year 1978 ...
Place: cleveland ohio, washington d.c., chicago, north america
Similarity:
27%
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 8.0
 181K
JFK (1991)
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 189 min.
Story: New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Style: tense, political thriller, controversial, political, disturbing ...
Plot: investigation, assassination, kennedy assassination, president, political conspiracy, conspiracy theory, legal, politics, cia, assassination of president, cold war era, courtroom ...
Time: 20th century, 60s, 90s, year 1991, year 1963
Place: america, washington d.c., north america, midwest, chile ...
Similarity:
27%
The Ides of March (2011)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Dirty tricks stand to soil an ambitious young press spokesman's idealism in a cutthroat presidential campaign where 'victory' is relative.
Style: political thriller, talky, tense, political, suspense ...
Audience: adult
Plot: politics, election, political intrigue, campaign, lobbyist, twists and turns, presidential campaign, intern, media, political corruption, conspiracy, corruption ...
Time: year 2011, future, 2010s, 70s, 21st century
Place: ohio, usa, columbus ohio, iran, cincinnati ohio ...
Similarity:
27%
The Confession (1999)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story: After his young son dies from the negligience of medical professionals at a hospital, Harry Fertig (Kinglsey) takes matters into his own hands and kills the negligent doctors responsible. Slick lawyer Roy Bleakie (Baldwin), looking only to win a ...
Style: serious, realistic, psychological, suspense, captivating ...
Plot: legal, lawyer, murder, faith, courtroom, hotshot lawyer, redemption, death in the family, moral dilemma, dishonesty, legal investigation, law enforcement ...
Time: 90s
Place: usa, new york, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
27%
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Australia, USA, Philippines
Duration: 115 min.
Story: Australian journalist Guy Hamilton travels to Indonesia to cover civil strife in 1965. There, on the eve of an attempted coup, he befriends a Chinese Australian photographer with a deep connection to and vast knowledge of the Indonesian people and ...
Style: political, atmospheric, art house, tropical, historically accurate ...
Plot: journalism, journalist, politics, photograph, diplomat, embassy, photography, closeted homosexual, reporter, photographer, secrets, genocide ...
Time: year 1982, 20th century, year 1965, 60s
Place: australia, east asia, the philippines, asia, indonesia ...
Similarity:
27%
 7.2
 90K
The Rainmaker (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story: When Rudy Baylor, a young attorney with no clients, goes to work for a seedy ambulance chaser, he wants to help the parents of a terminally ill boy in their suit against an insurance company. But to take on corporate America, Rudy and a scrappy ...
Style: suspense, thought provoking, clever, intense, exciting ...
Audience: family outing, girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, legal, lawyer, lawsuit, domestic violence, insurance company, self defense, justice, courtroom, legal investigation, investigation, corruption ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: caribbean, memphis, new jersey
Similarity:
27%
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 6.0
 17K
The Chamber (1996)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only ...
Style: emotional, thought provoking, suspense, realistic, serious ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, racism, legal, death sentence, courtroom, ku klux klan, murder, prison, anti semitism, haunted by the past, politics, lawyer ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, 60s, year 1967, year 1996
Place: mississippi, usa
Similarity:
27%
A Dry White Season (1989)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Taking place during the 1976 Soweto uprising, the story follows a white school teacher whose life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Style: talky, disturbing, emotional, thought provoking, realistic ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: racism, lawyer, society, legal, injustice, rebellion, discrimination, children, courtroom, freedom, chess, social commentary ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, year 1976
Place: south africa, africa, poland, canada, new jersey ...
Similarity:
27%
The Star Chamber (1983)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Disgusted with criminals escaping the judicial system via technicalities, an idealistic young judge investigates an alternative method for punishing the guilty.
Style: exciting, intense, suspense, serious, retro ...
Plot: vigilante, vigilantism, conspiracy, judge, murder, political corruption, legal, vengeance, secret society, justice, lawyer, assassin ...
Time: 80s, year 1983, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california
Similarity:
27%
 6.3
 20K
Red Corner (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Style: suspense, suspenseful, political, thought provoking, intense ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, courtroom, death penalty, frame up, justice, political corruption, murder mystery, lawyer, male victim, court, conspiracy theory, false accusation ...
Time: year 1997, 90s
Place: china, asia, california
Similarity:
27%
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story: Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
Style: political, suspense, suspenseful, tense, political thriller ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night
Plot: political conspiracy, politics, investigation, conspiracy, conspiracy theory, lawyer, spy, political corruption, corruption, secret service, fbi, surveillance ...
Time: 90s, future, 20th century
Place: washington d.c., new orleans, southern usa, new york
Similarity:
26%
 6.6
 13K
Suspect (1987)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide and his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson (Liam Neeson), a homeless veteran who's deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley (Cher) is assigned to his case, ...
Style: suspense, suspenseful, psychological, intense, talky ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: courtroom drama, murder mystery, twists and turns, lawyer, courtroom, justice, murder, legal investigation, court, mute or deaf, false accusation, manipulation ...
Time: 80s, year 1987, 20th century
Place: usa, persia, washington d.c., vietnam
Similarity:
26%
 5.9
 10K
Hamlet (2000)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder in New York City.
Style: meditative, intense, cynical, psychological, serious ...
Plot: shakespeare, murder, revenge, tragedy, ghost, betrayal, vengeance, intrigue, tragic hero, haunted by the past, corporation, poisoning ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 2000
Place: new york, usa, europe, denmark, england
Similarity:
26%