'MARTINI'S THE JUDGE': DRY FORMULA FAILS TO INTOXICATE.

Byline: - David Kronke

``Steve Martini's The Judge'' - no, wait; Edward James Olmos is the judge, Steve Martini just wrote the book upon which this overheated legal thriller is based. Olmos stars as Armando Acosta, a hard-nosed jurist unfamiliar with the concept of mercy.

While he's probing police corruption in Baltimore, he's conveniently framed; first, for soliciting a young woman for sex, and later for murdering her (and yes, there are intermittent gratuitously lurid flashbacks of the crime).

Enter Paul Madriani (Chris Noth), a wily but world-weary attorney who has tangled with vitriol with Acosta in the past. Paul is recruited by his former lover, Catherine Rosetti (Lolita Davidovich), to defend Acosta. Rosetti, by the way, was fired by the sinister state attorney hoping to burnish his political career with this trial; she also has a cop brother who may be part of the broiling corruption scandal - who also happened to date the murder victim. Small world? No, just a small imagination on the behalf of the folks trying to foist all these contrivances and plot holes upon us.

Rosetti and Madriani do quicker detective work than the Baltimore P.D., getting to the victim's home before the cops, even though they arrive late at the crime scene (and what were they doing there, anyway?). Not only is the force corrupt, but it's stupid - cops ham-fistedly attempt to frame Madriani after threatening him in public.

That's almost enough to get the equally ham-fisted and perpetually apoplectic judge (Charles Durning, stout from ingesting so much scenery) trying Acosta's case to make a ruling that's not heavily tilted against our heroes during the trial - almost. Even the killer's identity is conveniently, if idiotically, kept in the family of the main dramatis personae.

Davidovich injects spark into the turgidly formulaic proceedings - it was a real mistake to write her out of most of Part 2 - while both Noth and Olmos plod sullenly through much of the movie, as if the production itself were a jail sentence. Viewers might be inclined to sympathize.

``STEVE MARTINI'S THE JUDGE''

What: Legal thriller miniseries about a judge accused of murdering the woman who framed him for solicitation and his contentious relationship with the legal team defending him.

The stars: Chris Noth, Edward James Olmos, Lolita Davidovich, Charles Durning, Sonia Braga, John Terry.

Where: NBC (Channel 4).

When: 9 tonight and Monday.

Our rating: Two stars

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Photo:

Edward James Olmos and Sonia Braga co-star in ``Steve Martini's The Judge,'' but viewers may have a hard time embracing this tepid thriller.