The Verdict (1982)
Top 3 - 1982
The Verdict, another excellent achievement for the magnificent Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men) is the kind of film that shakes the insides, makes you think and consider things such as truth, morality, redemption and justice. Lumet does the same thing he does with 12 Angry Men in this film, he simply, without any tricks or fancy work expose us to the flaws of the law and justice, and how the rich nearly always gain the upper hand, but not always as this film shows. As Frank Galvin (Newman) says the court gives the poor and powerless a chance and sometimes they can walk out with something.
Paul Newman proves in 'The Verdict' why his name stands amongst the Hollywood elite; his performance is truly magnificent. He plays a drunk, divorced, washed up Boston lawyer with a losing streak who gets a second chance to redeem himself. His boss/partner brings him a case so easy to settle out of court that he could make a bunch of money and not worry about a thing; about a Boston Catholic Hospital who administered the wrong anaesthetic to a young woman and destroyed her life; she is in a coma; deprived of speech, sound and vision. Galvin visits the Catholic bishop in relation to St. Catherine's hospital for a quick settlement, but on his way there he goes to see the girl; he sees the pain, destruction of a life... Galvin rejects $210,000 ($70,000) which would go straight in his pockets. Why? He can't be paid off to look the other way while a girl is paralysed and dying on a hospital bed. He takes them to court, despite disbelief from both the opposition and the judge himself.
The story follows, as the powerful, defence attorney team rattle Newman's cage, through a variety of ways, leaving him with no ideas; but he fights, he does not surrender, he has a truth to fight for, he wants real justice, he wants redemption, and he gets it eventually... He wins the case not on masterful inquisitiveness of the law, but working as a decent human being relying on the humanity of the jurors to see beyond all the smoke and mirrors of the defence...
The Verdict has great qualities; its the kind of film that is cathartic, satisfying while entertaining and superbly acted.
9/10
Top 3 - 1982
The Verdict, another excellent achievement for the magnificent Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men) is the kind of film that shakes the insides, makes you think and consider things such as truth, morality, redemption and justice. Lumet does the same thing he does with 12 Angry Men in this film, he simply, without any tricks or fancy work expose us to the flaws of the law and justice, and how the rich nearly always gain the upper hand, but not always as this film shows. As Frank Galvin (Newman) says the court gives the poor and powerless a chance and sometimes they can walk out with something.
Paul Newman proves in 'The Verdict' why his name stands amongst the Hollywood elite; his performance is truly magnificent. He plays a drunk, divorced, washed up Boston lawyer with a losing streak who gets a second chance to redeem himself. His boss/partner brings him a case so easy to settle out of court that he could make a bunch of money and not worry about a thing; about a Boston Catholic Hospital who administered the wrong anaesthetic to a young woman and destroyed her life; she is in a coma; deprived of speech, sound and vision. Galvin visits the Catholic bishop in relation to St. Catherine's hospital for a quick settlement, but on his way there he goes to see the girl; he sees the pain, destruction of a life... Galvin rejects $210,000 ($70,000) which would go straight in his pockets. Why? He can't be paid off to look the other way while a girl is paralysed and dying on a hospital bed. He takes them to court, despite disbelief from both the opposition and the judge himself.
The story follows, as the powerful, defence attorney team rattle Newman's cage, through a variety of ways, leaving him with no ideas; but he fights, he does not surrender, he has a truth to fight for, he wants real justice, he wants redemption, and he gets it eventually... He wins the case not on masterful inquisitiveness of the law, but working as a decent human being relying on the humanity of the jurors to see beyond all the smoke and mirrors of the defence...
The Verdict has great qualities; its the kind of film that is cathartic, satisfying while entertaining and superbly acted.
9/10