Top 10 Joel Schumacher Movies

5. Tigerland (2000)

Widely accepted as being the breakthrough role for Irish heart-throb turned off-kilter comedy leading man Colin Farrell, Schumacher’s Vietnam war movie Tigerland was the first of three collaborations between Farrell and Schumacher in as many years at the turn of the century, thus christening a successful artistic partnership that realised the likes of Veronica Guerin (no. 8) and Phone Booth (no. 6).

Perhaps the most underrated film on this list, Tigerland is a gritty exploration of the mindset of young men training for battle towards the end of the Vietnam War and has a sense of unpredictability that in many ways mirrored the war itself. An oft-forgotten war movie released in the midst of a slew of war films after the success of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998), this is certainly a Joel Schumacher that deserves more eyes.

4. A Time To Kill (1996)

Sandwiched between Joel Schumacher’s two Batman movies is A Time To Kill starring Matthew McConaughey as a lawyer defending a black man (Samuel L. Jackson) accused of the murder of the two white men who raped his daughter, a premise that proves the foundation for a violent response from the Klu Klux Klan.

This is the sort of movie that most directors would have avoided in the midst of a run at the mainstream with major Warner Bros property Batman, but in bringing A Time To Kill to the big screen, Schumacher reinforced how capable he is of presenting moving critique on the silver screen even within the shackles of Hollywood’s studio system.

Watch this one for the qualities of McConaughey’s and particularly Jackson’s acting work, but hold a thought for a director who was brave enough to tackle real issues in between making the two worst Batman movies ever.

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3. The Client (1994)

In 1994, Joel Schumacher pitted the acting talents of Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon against one another in his court-room drama about an innocent kid projected into a world of tension and violence after witnessing the suicide of a member of the mafia.

The Client, like much of Schumacher’s best work, featured his somewhat signature presentation of moral ambiguity and his ever-present critique of social, political and cultural norms, all the while maintaining a fast and exciting pace ripe for Hollywood.

Sarandon is a powerhouse under Schumacher’s watchful eye, yet the whole cast feels involved if not important, and the picture painted by the film’s end is one of darkness for the innocent young boy at its centre, leaving you ponderous as to the nature of your own allegiances and all that you take for granted.

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