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Trailer: Misconduct

When an ambitious young lawyer takes on a big case against a powerful and ruthless executive of a large pharmaceutical company, he soon finds himself involved in a case of blackmail and corruption.

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Less than $200. That's how much the legal thriller Misconduct, starring Oscar-winners Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins, took at the British box office in its first public outing over the weekend, surely making it a contender for the title Flop of the Year.

Screened in five movie theatres belonging to the Reel Cinemas chain, it took a total of £97 ($188.41), according to figures released by Rentrak and first reported by The Guardian. 

Even the star power of Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins couldn't save <i>Misconduct</I> from dismal box office takings and savage reviews.

Even the star power of Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins couldn't save Misconduct from dismal box office takings and savage reviews.

"This baffling legal thriller could be shown in film schools as a textbook example of how not to make a movie," The Observer's Wendy Ide complained. "Every decision, be it plot, casting, photography, sound, and probably even catering, is a bad one. Performances, particularly those of Hopkins (corrupt billionaire), Pacino (corrupt lawyer) and Malin Akerman (corrupt billionaire's unhinged girlfriend), reach world-class levels of set-munching dreadfulness."

The Telegraph's Tim Robey speculated Misconduct might be the worst film either Hopkins or Pacino had ever starred in.

"I've seen Instinct, I've seen Jack and Jill, I've seen 88 Minutes, Righteous Kill, and Solace, and The Rite, and no, none are viewings to be proud of. But none hold a candle to this."

Made for a modest - by Hollywood standards - budget of $11 million, it is a John Grisham-esque story of a lawyer (Josh Duhamel) who attempts to prosecute an unethical pharmaceutical billionaire (Hopkins) who is manipulating the results of drug trials. Pacino plays Duhamel's boss Charles Abrams. The film has been judged a poor derivative of legal thrillers from the nineties including The Firm, The Chamber and Time to Kill.

In the US the film also did poor business. According to Variety it pulled in about $15,000 during its opening weekend and then sank without trace after earning about $24,000. In South Korea, by contrast, the film made more than $900,000.

To give the actors credit, Misconduct faced stiff competition from the likes of Warcraft and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 released on the same weekend. And it had little or no marketing campaign behind it.

But neither Hopkins or Pacino's old star power was enough to overcome the damning critical reviews and fill a single movie theatre row. The paltry ticket sales suggest a mere handful of movie goers watched it on the big screen. 

The limited five-screen release in out-of-London locations including Kidderminster and Burnley coincided with the film's digital streaming television release.

The studio did not bother trying in Australian cinemas. Misconduct was quietly released locally on DVD on June 4.

Fairfax Media