Será justicia

I saw "The Verdict" when it was released in 1982 and just watched it again. It is amazing what of the film I retained in memory. Most of what I remembered was the sheer brilliance of Paul Newman. In seeing it the second time, I'm 24 years older, I've worked for attorneys, I've had an experience with the justice system. And still, what I take away from "The Verdict" is the sheer brilliance of Paul Newman. After Matthew McConnaughey made "A Time to Kill," he asked his agents if he could meet Paul Newman. I guess someone told him they were similar. Newman said to him, "This is a time to not take yourself seriously and your work very seriously." When Matthew McConnaughey has a 50+ year career, you'll talk (I'll be gone) - but it's evident that Paul Newman takes his work very seriously indeed.

"The Verdict" is an old story - the drunken attorney who takes a case -think "The People Against O'Hara" for one - but this one has a stunning cast which includes Jack Warden, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling and Lindsay Crouse. And it asks one of life's great questions - what do you do when losing is just not an option? Drunken, disillusioned, ambulance-chasing Frank Galvin takes a slam-dunk hospital negligence case thrown to him by an investigator friend (Warden). His expert witness tells him he can win. So Galvin doesn't tell his client about a lowball offer, takes the thing to trial, loses his star witness, hires a pathetic expert, is reported by his client for failing to give them the offer they would have happily taken - simply put, there's no paddle but if he doesn't get down the river, any hope of reconstituting his life is over. Gone. David Mamet's script stacks everything against Frank but when you're fighting for your life, failure is not an option.

Newman is a wonder with his loser posture and hyperventilation and his desperateness. It's in his voice, it's on his face, it's in his smile, it's in his shaking hands. He's up against James Mason and his huge law firm, a smug, well-dressed bunch who will stop at nothing to win. One might think this type of firm is a cliché; it isn't. One of the characters says it best - "You have no loyalty to anyone, you don't care who you hurt. You're all whores." Unfortunately in real life, all attorneys are pretty much the same, but at least in film we occasionally are shown a decent one. When this film was made, the public had not yet been subjected to the Dream Team, the Robert Blake Case, the Menendez Brothers. But even today, knowing better, you can't help but buy into Newman's frantic sincerity.

The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, with top honors going to Mason's smooth Concannon and Lindsay Crouse, who gives us the most powerful five minutes of the film with her magnificent performance as the admission nurse.

Is it a manipulative film? As hell. Is it feel good? You betcha. But take it from someone who knows an unfortunate truth - that justice is for the rich who pull in favors and have the money to fight, everyone lies their teeth off, and the jury system is sad - if I can be swept away by "The Verdict" and by Paul Newman's performance (another Oscar he was cheated out of) - you're gonna eat it up.

"The Verdict" has to be called one of the finest courtroom-law dramas of all time, certainly a movie which deserves more recognition than it actually received over the course of the years since its publication. While the plot itself remains rather grounded and straight-forward without any particularly groundbreaking elements, Paul Newman's masterful performance as well as the great supporting actors and actresses are what helps this drama in succeeding at depicting what it aims to depict.

Newman plays an attorney who needs to pull himself together from his drinking problem in order to win a lawsuit surrounding the case of a woman suffering severe brain damage at a hospital. It should come as no surprise that Newman completely immerses himself in the role in a way only Paul Newman can be expected to. The dialogues are another main part of the movie's most intriguing aspects, flowing so well together that it's almost impossible to lose attention of what's happening. At its heart, the movie is not just a courtroom drama, it's about humans dealing with their personal conditions and problems, and it's a movie which knows how to form a bond with viewers and keep them connected to the characters.

Sadly, the movie has not reached a status as a classic of the 1980's. Perhaps it simply was not memorable enough to most viewers, or perhaps it is too fine a movie in a decade remembered mostly for action movies, horror flicks or comedies. However, if you love watching a great performance in a great movie, then "The Verdict" cannot be recommended highly enough.

If Newman hadn't been up against Ghandi, he probably would have. I think the Academy realized their error and Newman's win for The Color of Money was really for his portrayal of Frank Galvin, in this well-done tale of moral decrepitude and ultimate redemption. Writer Mamet and Director Lumet are into heavy symbolism throughout, with the scene of the developing Poloroids of the victim (the case becomes clear in Galvin's mind), to Galvin's pilfering of a woman's mail to run down a lead on a potential witness. The closing statement of Newman's character to the jury is powerful.

I saw that A Civil Action was on this weekend and it reminded me of another great film - this one. With 30 years of acting under his belt, Paul Newman gave an outstanding performance as a drunk, washed-up lawyer that was handed a cakewalk that he proceeded to screw up. He managed to come out smelling like a rose through luck and skill as a lawyer. Newman was superb! He should have gotten an Oscar for this film, and I am not saying that just because I like seeing someone stick it to the high and mighty.

Sidney Lumet was also great as director as should have been rewarded for this and not just given an honorary Oscar.

Bruce Willis has another walk-on role.

I like that this film shows how the criminal justice system, solid though it is, has cracks that can prevent justice being done, and that the people participating in it have to have the courage to recognize them. This film has turned out to be a seminal one: legal drama has turned overwhelmingly to rumination of the moral interstices of the law like the one portrayed here. Without "The Verdict," we wouldn't have "The Practice." Gone are the days when all of Perry Mason's clients were innocent.

Paul Newman's performance has been justifiably enshrined in the pantheon of Circumstances When The Academy Dropped The Ball. But what made the film a truly emotional performance for me was Lindsay Crouse as the pivotal witness. The entire ensemble was flawless, as was the incredible atmosphere. "The Verdict" is probably too serious for some movie fans, and that's OK--no film can please everyone. But if you like to be given something to think about by your entertainments, this is the film for you.