Trial & Error

At first glance, director Jonathan Lynn's decision to make Trial & Error looked suspect: You might hit paydirt once with a film about an inexperienced attorney fumbling around in a backwater courtroom (Lynn's My Cousin Vinny), but twice? Yet Trial & Error, familiar premise and all, somehow turns out to be another lightweight-but-agreeable comedy. The character arcs--flaky actor (Michael Richards) learns responsibility, while uptight lawyer (Jeff Daniels) finds his bliss--are efficiently resolved, though poorly developed, and the comic situations offer consistent chuckles, but also a fair number of missed opportunities. If Trial & Error turns out more pleasant and restrained than you might have expected, it's largely because Richards and Daniels share the spotlight comfortably, refusing to step on one another in pursuit of a laugh (which is good, since there aren't all that many big laughs to pursue). Not a truly memorable comedy, but a well-paced and frequently amusing one. Let's just hope Lynn doesn't decide to test the theory that a third time is a charm. An optional purchase. (S. Renshaw)