Trial and Error

This comedy features TV's Seinfeld regular Michael Richards in his first starring role, opposite Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays Charlie Tuttle, an up-and-coming attorney engaged to Tiffany Whitfield (Alexandra Wentworth), the daughter of the law firm's boss (Lawrence Pressman). His boss sends him to a small Nevada town to represent a down-and-out relative, Benny Gibbs (Rip Torn). Benny has been charged with fraud for bilking people in a mail-order scam. At a bachelor party that Charlie's future father-in-law arranges for him in the small town, Charlie gets plastered. A small-time actor, Richard Rietti (played by Richards), agrees to switch places with Charlie for a simple hearing that day. The judge and prosecutor think he's Tuttle. As the trial begins, Charlie tries to pose as his associate, but the judge won't allow that. Charlie is forced to send signals to Richard during the trial by honking on a car horn in the parking lot. In the meantime, Charlie finds a new kind of happiness with a free-spirited local waitress, Billie Tyler (Charlize Theron).