Movies Like Legalese

If you liked Legalese (1998), a crime and drama movie directed by Glenn Jordan, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Unfaithful (2002)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance
A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.
2
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and drama
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
3
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and romance
Claire Gregory, an upper class New York personality, witnesses a murder in a luxurious nightclub. Detective Mike Keegan, recently promoted, is assigned to protect her.
4
5lbs of Pressure (2024)
★ 6/10Also crime and romance
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to…
5
Petulia (1968)
★ 6/10Also drama and romance
Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's…
6
Scum (1977)
★ 7.2/10Also tv movie and drama
Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of…
7
Hierarchy (2025)
★ 6/10Also crime and tv movie
In an undisclosed area of Texas after two adoptive brothers become entangled in criminal activity, forced to evade law enforcement and the greedy Russian mafia.
8
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
★ 6/10Also crime and drama
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
9
Witness Protection (1999)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and crime
Would you be willing to walk away from everyone and everything you've ever known in exchange for your safety? This is the question facing career criminal Bobby "Bats" Batton (Tom Sizemore); on the outs with the mob and…
10
Desert Dawn (2025)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and tv movie
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
11
Ray Donovan: The Movie (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each…
12
Dead Man Down (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
13
Killer Heat (2024)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and drama
An expat PI is hired to investigate a suspicious death in Crete, Greece, where jealousies run deep amongst the victim's powerful family.
14
Wicked Minds (2003)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and romance
Holden returns home from college and is surprised to find his overpowering competitive father married to a much younger woman Lana. Holden quickly falls for the beauty and charisma of his step mother. A passionate…
15
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
★ 7.8/10Also crime and drama
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District…
16
Heaven (2002)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and romance
A woman takes the law into her own hands after police ignore her pleas to arrest the man responsible for her husband's death, and finds herself not only under arrest for murder but falling in love with an officer.
17
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and tv movie
Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises…
18
The Outsider (2002)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and romance
Montana sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder offers sanctuary to an on-the-lam outlaw, Johnny Gault, who is suffering from a gunshot wound. Yoder is a recent widow, and her decision to help the outsider doesn't sit well with her…
19
Reptile (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
20
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and crime
When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled…