The Paper Chase

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The Paper Chase

PG,

1973,

1h 51m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

79%

29 Reviews

Tomatometer

72%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

As a first-year law student at Harvard, James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) knows he's got his work cut out for him. But things get harder than he anticipated when he runs afoul of the school's dreaded contracts professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman). Wry and imposing, Kingsfield drives many of the lesser students to drop out, but James endures and, as if begging for more trouble, begins dating the professor's daughter, Susan (Lindsay Wagner).

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 19, 2023

The Paper Chase isn't a terrible movie, but its preconceptions are all wrong: it's about an un-situation and un-people.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Jul 24, 2008

The Paper Chase has some great performances, literate screenwriting, sensitive direction and handsome production.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

May 9, 2005

2.5/5

By the end it has melted into a blob of clichs.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Feb 6, 2025

5/10

The pacing is a touch too slow, dawdling here and there with minor matters (including an absurd showdown with a hotel manager) that may intermittently aid in realism but simultaneously stretch out the runtime.

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Jun 13, 2022

An impressive American drama which delves into the competitive and stressful world of academia.

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John Simon

Esquire Magazine

Jul 23, 2020

Back in 1926, Virginia Woolf wrote that at the movies, "as smoke pours from Vesuvius, we should be able to see thought in its wildness, in its beauty, in its oddity..." The Paper Chase fails to make thought visible.

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Feb 2, 2019

The best inspiring movie ever made!

Albus S

Jul 27, 2018

Not incredibly rewatchable--dry. Well-written and -acted. Great message for ALL students of modern education. A highly recommendable watch for high schoolers and college freshmen.

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George M

Oct 16, 2017

John Houseman gives a tremendous performance as a law school professor who is at times forbidding, aloof, humourous, cruel, and collegial in this campus film about the pressure cooker that is Harvard Law School. It's autumnal, academic, and wintry with great music from John Williams.

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Harry W

Jun 4, 2017

Wonderful performances. A film about the learning process, critical thinking skills, relationships and the growing up one does during college years. And I don't agree with some of the comments about the end being 'odd'. The end is a perfect culmination of what the main character has been building up to. Confidence in his academic abilities and readiness for MORE challenges in the coming year.

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Draco L

Apr 4, 2017

"The Paper Chase" has a sharp script with plenty of smart dialogue, but what stood out most to me about this college years drama was the impenetrable supporting performance by John Houseman.

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Ron S

Sep 15, 2016

Saw it in theater when came out. Has a special place in my romantic memory, because of associations, who i saw it with, etc.but i don't recall that it was itself so good. John Houseman was classic. He 'earrrnnnnnd it'. Lindsay Wagner was hot, and was so long after this. There were several similar movies in the late 60s, early 70s. Very evocative of a young love. 'Love Story' was notorious. 'Goodbye, Columbus' was another one.

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James Bridges

Director

Timothy Bottoms

James T. Hart

John Houseman

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.

Lindsay Wagner

Susan Fields

Graham Beckel

Franklin Ford III

Edward Herrmann

Thomas Craig Anderson

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Synopsis

As a first-year law student at Harvard, James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) knows he's got his work cut out for him. But things get harder than he anticipated when he runs afoul of the school's dreaded contracts professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman). Wry and imposing, Kingsfield drives many of the lesser students to drop out, but James endures and, as if begging for more trouble, begins dating the professor's daughter, Susan (Lindsay Wagner).

Director: James Bridges
Producer: Robert C. Thompson, Roderick Paul
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 51m

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