THE VERDICT - 1982
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, Milo O’Shea, Lindsey Crouse, Edward Binns, Julie Bovasso, Joe Seneca, Roxanne Hart, James Handy, Wesley Addy, and James Mason
Genre: Courtroom Drama (Audio clip)
You know for a dreamboat movie star, few actors were STILL as charismatic playing full-on down-and-out than Paul Newman....I mean the dude even made slovenly drunk hunkered over a pinball machine keeping him upright look somewhat appealing. 🙂 Here he plays Frank Galvin, a down on his luck Boston attorney who has stumbled into what might be his most potentially lucrative case in years....suing a Catholic-run hospital whose negligent doctors inadvertently put a healthy young pregnant woman into a permanent coma, also losing her baby. The local Archdiocese which runs the hospital has offered his client - the young lady's poor family - a very generous settlement to prevent this from going to court. It's EASY money of course!
But would it be a compelling story if Frank just took the money and ran? 🤔 Of course not....not when you have Newman playing a rumpled underdog...not when you have one of the best cinematic purveyors of rumpled underdog stories directing....the late great Sydney Lumet. (Serpico, 12 Angry Men) And NOT when you have David Mamet writing the screenplay.....and certainly not when you have the silky smooth patrician-accented James Mason (in one of his last roles...STILL bringing the heat in his '70's) as the LEAD attorney for the bad guys. :o
Sounds promising...oh and you have Charlotte Rampling as a mysterious woman who catches Frank's fancy while also motivating him....AND Jack Warden playing Frank's legal whiz sidekick....it just keeps getting better and better! And fortunately what results is a compelling legal drama which actually lives up to this promising set-up with a stellar pedigree. Even moreso, it's still an absorbing character study of an alcoholic just barely hanging on - Newman's Frank seems barely functional for much of his screentime EXCEPT when he's pounding away in court
And granted the courtroom exchanges do feel a bit histrionic at times but Newman's style of reserved confidence helps sell it....as does Mason doing a proverbial twirl of his mustache in one key late courtroom exchange which just had me on the edge of my seat in spite of myself. 😄 Because those final 45 minutes offers more twists and turns than I would have expected and with a couple of super-convenient camera shots to nudge the audience along but by that point, Lumet and crew just HAD me along for the ride.
At the end of the day, this is likely a more conventional courtroom drama than you would expect given all of the talent involved but WOW it helps to have good talent on board to elevate it!
Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):
As had been the case with many dramas directed by Lumet, the soundtrack and score for this movie is pretty spare – it’s go a mostly quiet soundscape except for a few snippets throughout and its one main theme played over the closing credits. It was conducted by New York City’s OWN Johnny Mandel who not only did his share of film scores but also quite the virtuoso jazz performer – he was probably most famously known for writing and performing the theme for MASH, yes the 1970 Robert Altman movie….and that HIGHLY iconic theme would eventually be adapted for the TV show. (Audio clip)
As I said, his score for the movie is spare….but it is effective, actually pretty emotional orchestral stuff heard at the end. (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
I just would give a small shout-out to a character actress who has a prominent role in the third act of this movie and just left us too soon. She plays Maureen Rooney, one elusive witness whom Newman’s Frank is desperately trying to get testimony from for most of this film – she’s the Head Nurse of that Operating Room and information which she finally provides in the third act becomes essential to Frank’s case. As always, she’s great here…I’m referring to Brooklyn, NY’s FAVORITE ethnic relative….the late, great Julie Bovasso. (Audio clip)
If you came of age in the ‘70’s or ‘80’s, you know her face….she was SUPER-adept at playing no-nonsense ladies OFTEN from New York. Her career started in the late ‘50’s and until the early ‘70’s, she did mostly TV work….and then she broke out in movies. Sadly she passed away in 1992 at the age of 61 and though her filmography wasn’t extensive – she only acted in about 18 movies (to be fair, that’s 18 more than me) but WOW within about a 15 year period, she had memorable roles in a LOT of good stuff, most of which I just personally love from that era: Moonstruck, Betsy’s Wedding, John Huston’s Prizzi’s Honor, Brian DePalma’s Wise Guys – which I THINK is still the only full-on comedy he has directed, this movie of course, the underrated medical drama Article 99 which was her last on-screen appearance…..and….most famously….she played Florence Manero, that’s right the put-upon but eternally wise mother of TONY Manero of previous episodes Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive. (Audio clip)
Two movies of SHARPLY differing quality but she remains the only performer who delivers consistently strong performances in BOTH of them….I mean her ONE scene sitting down with Tony in Staying Alive is literally THE best part of that movie precisely because it’s the only point in the movie when human beings act LIKE human beings! She hasn’t been with us for over thirty years but thanks to her ongoing legacy in cinema, Julie Bovasso will always remain mother to us all. (Audio clip)
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
Yes I’m going to go with a pretty obvious choice here for a courtroom drama but sorry, I just have to….it’s just SUCH a good monologue. I have to go with Frank Galvin’s closing statement towards the end – it’s both passionate and measured, it’s gorgeous writing, and of course it’s EXACTLY why you hire some online like Newman to deliver it. (Audio clip)
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
Seriously JUST one lingering image of watching him listening to a phone ring tells you everything you need to know towards the end…..this is definitely one of Paul Newman’s greatest performances. He delivers all of the nuance and charisma you could hope for so that regardless of his character’s sometimes erratic behavior, you just can’t help but root for him. (Audio clip)
But let’s not forget my main impetus for doing this particular review at this particular time which I’ll get to in just a bit….I’m referring to the late great Sidney Lumet who just had just an INCREDIBLE career directing films over SIX decades, more than 60 in total and SO many classics many of them focused on various aspects of the law including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and Failsafe. And he worked with EVERYBODY beyond his obvious classics with Pacino….he did several films with the late great Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, and his VERY last film actually featured the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman in one of HIS best performances….Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead which came out in ’08. HOW good was Lumet with actors? One of his last films was the underrated courtroom drama Find Me Guilty featuring what was easily an all-time performance from a somewhat unrecognizable Vin Diesel…..yeah back when he was trying too. (Audio clip)
Lumet was born in Philadelphia but would also become of THE essential New York directors not only thanks to aforementioned Pacino-lead classics like Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon but other NY-based gems like Q&A, Family Business, and Night Falls on Manhattan. He was nominated four times for Best Director including this film though sadly never won…..and even more sadly, he died from cancer in 2011 at the age of ’86. His legacy was undeniable though – he was a bit older than them but you just cannot mention the great film school-bread masters of the ‘70’s….Spielberg, Coppola, Scorcese….without mentioning him as THE elder statesman whom they all looked up to. Of course Newman’s performance carries this movie but looking back over his career, it’s clearly obvious that he was still fortunate to be working with one of THE great filmmakers. For collaborating so effectively one of THE best legal dramas of the 1980’s, Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman are your CO-MVP’s.
Final Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
Now the reason for this review….it’s quite simple: this episode is being published on June 25 which happens to be the birthday of Mr. Lumet and not just any birthday. It’s kind of crazy too as I have seen SO many of his movies and yet this is the first one reviewed for this podcast…..well undoubtedly more to come. Happy 100th Birthday to the one of THE true masters of cinema, Sidney Lumet. (Audio clip)
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And that ends another LITIGIOUS review!
