Product Description

Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5813 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2009-10-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 972 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Guardian With Edge
4.5 Stars... Be warned, the character Simon Baker plays in this series is edgier than his character in The Mentalist and slightly more abrasive. However, that being said the first season of this legal drama was the strongest. At the time, Baker was billed as a new face with edge from Austrailia and the series got good critical reviews its first year. Baker's seens with Dabney Coleman were amazing to watch as he struggled between goodwill legal work and the call of "the rich firm" run by his father. Alan Rosenberg was good though the character he played was less rich than his characters in other series (Cybil, L.A. Law, Civil Wars). If you like Simon Baker in The Mentalist, and you don't expect him to always play the same exact character, you'll probably enjoy this first season and if like legal shows this series will also be enjoyable. So what happened in the remaining seasons? They retooled the premise to broaden their viewing audience and it watered down the show but this first season is definitely worth watching. I'd also recommend catching the actor in the romantic dramedy: Something New, if you are a fan of his.

A great, underrated show
I discovered this gem on a local channel while living abroad (granted, the episodes were not current). It was fascinating watching the challenges of Baker's character as he worked for his father's uptight law firm, while also performing mandated community service as a court-appointed guardian for kids with extraordinary difficulties in their lives. At first, I thought Baker's character too cold and unlikable, but eventually realized he was meant to be very complicated. However, it was the acting of Alan Rosenberg, and particularly Dabney Coleman, that made the show stand out for me. I had never appreciated what a fine dramatic actor Coleman is. The show can be raw and difficult to watch at times, but the writing and the guest actors are excellent, and I highly recommend it.

Possibly One of the Best Legal Dramas Ever Aired
When I graduated from law school, I came very close to practicing the type of family law the main character, Nick Fallon, has been sentenced to, so I may be a bit biased. With that having been said, I thought this was a terrific series.

The most important ingredient of this series' success is the understated (and unfortunately, criminally underrated) performance of Simon Baker. Because of the manner in which he plays Nick Fallon, you can see how the cumulative strain of:

(1) Fallon being sentenced to thousands of hours of community service in most trying, heartbreaking area of family law --destitute, abandoned and defenseless children;
(2) while struggling to stay productive at his tough-as-nails father's white-shoe mergers and acqusitions law firm and
(3)remaining sober

is (incrementally) tearing his character apart.

I strongly recommend this series to anyone who is tired of the melodramatic and overwrought nature of other legal dramas. It was really thought-provoking and entertaining!