Real or not, the last minute heroics in the courtroom was pretty bad but there was some nice dialogue by Harrelson. However, I couldn't help but think of why Theron took the role, i.e. to secure another Oscar nod for "slumming it."
shareI agree that the ending courtroom scenes were highly fictionalised (the whole bit of Sean Bean reading out the note by McDormand and everyone standing is pretty over the top - also the whole yellow or red scene: it bothers me how courtroom movies always have someone break down and confess that everything he's said is bs just because they're goaded). The movie could have been better and a lot of the last act seems pretty contrived. However, the point is legitimate and I felt that the beginning was very plausible and the performances good.
"He married her six weeks after the... previous sequence."
I agree with your summary. That last scene let it down a bit. "Red, or yellow?!!" Yeah, like that would be allowed in a courtroom.
Ironically, it wasn't even ironic at all.