Canterbury's Law

Julianna Margulies now gets to command the screen in something juicier than the usual procedural. [14 Mar 2008, p.70]

Law revels in reckless, rude antiheroics. But Margulies also excels in giving her character emotional depth, with a tragic backstory and a rocky personal life involving a long-suffering husband (Aidan Quinn) and a hot private eye (James McCaffrey) on the side.

As Elizabeth Canterbury, Julianna Margulies is a feisty pit bull in designer heels. She's willing to do just about everything to clear her clients. If there's one fairy-tale aspect to the show, it's that she's able to take on only clients who are actually innocent.

Margulies vanquishes her ER heroine image, but bad dialogue and dull legal stories undermine her case.

Forceful but also vulnerable, flawed and brilliant, Liz is plagued by her self-righteousness and, judging by a couple of episodes, the show is plagued by her rightness.

Margulies is an ideal actress to carry off this icy role. Perhaps in the hands of a more deft writer, Canterbury's Law could be the edgy show it aspires to be instead of the common courtroom drama it is.

Canterbury's Law is a Frankenstein's monster of a dozen cop/law shows, a pale, lurching version of the flawed and fascinating women who are taking back television like so many modern Cagneys and Laceys.