What has happened to the conspiracy/crime/legal thriller sub-genres?

[zorbonaut]

Let me start by saying, I have absolutely NO data to support this, but it feels like the amount of good crime/legal/conspiracy thrillers has decreased over the years. I've been in the mood for a good crime/legal thriller for weeks but after looking over Netflix.dvd, Netflix streaming, Hulu, and Amazon I was unable to find one that I had not seen. This got me thinking, has the sub-genre dimished over the years? After debating between The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Ghost Writer and A Time to Kill, I ended up watching The Firm (which I have seen many times).

I was finally able to watch an "unseen" film called, In the Electric Mist a few weeks ago on Netflix which starred Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman and Peter Sarsgaard which went straight to dvd/streaming in 2009. The film was good but not great and it made me realize that maybe the studios are just not bringing these type of films to screen as often as they did in the past.

Back in 1990's and early 2000's, studios were pumping these types of titles out. Now I feel as though the thriller/suspense genre has been taken over by Action and Horror Thrillers.

What happened to the days of films such as:

Absolute Power
In the Line of Fire
The Firm
A Time to Kill
Kiss The Girls
Along Came a Spider
JFK
The Pelican Brief
The Fugitive
Fargo
Conspiracy Theory
The Jury
The Pelican Brief
Se7en
Silence of the Lambs
Enemy of State
The Client
Ransom

These are just a small few that came to mind.

Has anyone else found this to be the case? I'm by no means saying that you couldn't find a few good titles each year, I'm just saying that it feels like the majority of thrillers released today are of the Horror and Action variety.

[imsounoriginal]

They're out there, just less numerous. Also a lot of the ones we get just aren't very good; International and Closed Circuit leap to mind as recent mediocrities. Michael Clayton is exceptional, though. There was also Lincoln Lawyer a few years back, which was OK, not great.

For the record, not sure if Silence of the Lambs really fits the bill you're describing as far as legal or conspiracy thrillers. More of a psychological horror film or a procedural, albeit a unique and brilliant one. Fargo is also a crime film, but more of a dark comedy than anything else.

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

They're out there, just less numerous. Also a lot of the ones we get just aren't very good; International and Closed Circuit leap to mind as recent mediocrities. Michael Clayton is exceptional, though.

For the record, not sure if Silence of the Lambs really fits the bill you're describing

I would classify SOTL as a Crime Thriller.

Michael Clayton is very good and it is one of the few that has been released in the last few years that come to mind. Unfortunately, movies like Michael Clayton seem rare today.

[Will.]

I love this genre, and I agree I wish there were more of these films made. The Pelican Brief is one of my favorites.

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by Will.

I love this genre, and I agree I wish there were more of these films made. The Pelican Brief is one of my favorites.

I agree, The Pelican Brief is one of my favorites along with Fargo, SOTL and Se7en.

[toddly6666]

It's because the genre got popular as tv episodes. Thus, they would look like tv shows playing in the movie theater and not make money. John Grisham just feels more tv than cinematic nowadays.

And dont forget Primal Fear.

[imsounoriginal]

Funny enough, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was modeled after a lot of the conspiracy/political thrillers of the 70s, though with an obviously heavy dose of action. So I suppose that's another one you can add to the list of recent one (it's also very good).

V for Vendetta is also a political thriller draped in the trappings of a comic book/graphic novel.

Fracture is another recent-ish one that's very, very good.

[Rodney-2187]

"It came true. You're lookin' at it."- The Comedian

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

Funny enough, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was modeled after a lot of the conspiracy/political thrillers of the 70s, though with an obviously heavy dose of action. So I suppose that's another one you can add to the list of recent one (it's also very good).

V for Vendetta is also a political thriller draped in the trappings of a comic book/graphic novel.

Fracture is another recent-ish one that's very, very good.

I debated including V for Vendetta but it doesn't really fit the bill of the sub-genres I was primarily focusing on. Fracture is definitely one that has been released in the last 10 years.

Winter Soldier may have been modeled after this type of thriller but I would classify it as an Action/Superhero film before anything else.

My list wasn't all inclusive by any means, it was just a list of the types of films that were commonplace in the 1990's.

[imsounoriginal]

Can't believe I forgot State of Play, very underrated and underseen political/conspiracy thriller that's just about perfect until it kinda falls apart in the last scene. Has very solid performances from Crowe, Affleck, McAdams, Mirren, Wright, etc. Syriana was what, 2005? Another kinda recent one that made some headlines (and won some famous guy an Oscar ).

There's also the Johnny Worricker trilogy from Britain, especially Page Eight, which kinda crosses between espionage and political/conspiracy thriller. It's an excellent movie, I haven't seen the following two movies but I've heard good things.

[levcore]

I miss this sub genre too but agree that a lot of these types of movies have moved to TV series now.

[Monterey Jack]

It is kind of funny that adult-skewing legal/political/crime thrillers used to be HUGE twenty years ago, given cush summer release slots and featuring major stars of the day (the Crichton/Grisham era), but now they've been squeezed out of existence by a never-ending onslaught of superhero movies and CGI kiddie kartoons. That's why I enjoyed Money Monster recently...finally, something for people over the age of 25 to watch!

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

It is kind of funny that adult-skewing legal/political/crime thrillers used to be HUGE twenty years ago, given cush summer release slots and featuring major stars of the day (the Crichton/Grisham era), but now they've been squeezed out of existence by a never-ending onslaught of superhero movies and CGI kiddie kartoons. That's why I enjoyed Money Monster recently...finally, something for people over the age of 25 to watch!

Money Monster is on my list but decided to go with The Nice Guys yesterday instead because of the better reviews. Now I wish I would have seen Money Monster instead.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

It is kind of funny that adult-skewing legal/political/crime thrillers used to be HUGE twenty years ago, given cush summer release slots and featuring major stars of the day (the Crichton/Grisham era), but now they've been squeezed out of existence by a never-ending onslaught of superhero movies and CGI kiddie kartoons. That's why I enjoyed Money Monster recently...finally, something for people over the age of 25 to watch!

Don't be so patronising. People of differing ages can enjoy the same stuff or different stuff. I'm 34 and enjoy legal thrillers AND comic book movies. Crazy huh!

[Batmon77]

With the ADD generation I doubt this Sub-Genre can fill seats they way it did.

I think the last big Mystery Thriller was The Da Vinci Code.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Batmon77

With the ADD generation I doubt this Sub-Genre can fill seats they way it did.

I think the last big Mystery Thriller was The Da Vinci Code.

In that case surely Angels & Demons?

[imsounoriginal]

I suppose Spotlight doesn't count?

[levcore]

And Prisoners

[unsung122212]

Originally Posted by levcore

In that case surely Angels & Demons?

Inferno is coming out in October. So, I would also think it would be included too.


Edit: film comes out in October, not December.

[Todd Tomorrow]

They are a lot more rare as Hollywood only rarely makes mid-budget films anymore which is what these used to be.